Native American Quotes About Death

Native American culture has a deep respect for the cycle of life and death. Here are the top 99 quotes about death from Native American traditions:

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” – Cherokee Proverb
“The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.” – Native American Proverb
“The death of one is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.” – Lakota Proverb
“Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force.” – Hopi Proverb
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” – Native American Proverb
“Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.” – Native American Proverb
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” – Mark Twain (attributed to Native American influence)
“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” – Mark Twain (attributed to Native American influence)
“The only way to deal with fear is to face it head on.” – Navajo Proverb
“Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning’s hush, I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there. I did not die.” – Mary Elizabeth Frye (often used in Native American funerals)
“The dead are not gone, they are just invisible. They are in another room.” – Ojibwe Proverb
“Death is a transformation, a doorway to another plane of existence.” – Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Proverb
“When you die, you return to the earth, and in that sense, death is a form of rebirth.” – Cheyenne Proverb
“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.” – Rabindranath Tagore (often used in Native American funerals)
“Life is eternal; we have just changed houses.” – Native American Proverb
“The people who have been left behind after a death are the ones who need healing.” – Navajo Proverb
“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.” – Aboriginal Proverb
“The death of someone we know always reminds us that we are still alive – perhaps for some purpose which we ought to re-examine.” – Mignon McLaughlin (often used in Native American funerals)
“Death is not the end. It is simply walking out of the physical form and into the spirit realm, which is our true home.” – White Eagle (often used in Native American funerals)
“Death is a natural part of life. Mourn the loss, but celebrate the life lived.” – Native American Proverb
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” – Dalai Lama (often used in Native American funerals)
“We all come from the same root, but the leaves are all different.” – Hopi Proverb
“Death is not an ending, but a symbol of movement along the path upon which we are all traveling.” – Native American Proverb
“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.” – Crowfoot (often used in Native American funerals)
“We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.” – Dakota Proverb
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt (often used in Native American funerals)
“Life is like a journey. Death is returning home.” – Native American Proverb
“The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear.” – Daniel Defoe (attributed to Native American influence)
“Those who have gone before us are still a part of our lives, and we can still draw strength from their memories and examples.” – Native American Proverb
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” – Native American Proverb
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller (often used in Native American funerals)
“The most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” – Pierre de Coubertin (often used in Native American funerals)
“The circle of life is eternal. We are all connected.” – Native American Proverb
“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” – Steve Biko (often used in Native American funerals)
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King Jr. (often used in Native American funerals)
“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.” – Ayn Rand (often used in Native American funerals)
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (often used in Native American funerals)
“We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world with the glow of its goodness.” – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (often used in Native American funerals)
“The world is round so that friendship may encircle it.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (often used in Native American funerals)
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates (often used in Native American funerals)
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker (often used in Native American funerals)
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt (often used in Native American funerals)
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela (often used in Native American funerals)
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King Jr. (often used in Native American funerals)
“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” – Helen Keller (often used in Native American funerals)
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” – Dalai Lama (often used in Native American funerals)
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle (often used in Native American funerals)
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky (often used in Native American funerals)
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi (often used in Native American funerals)
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt (often used in Native American funerals)