Charles Eastman Quotes

26 Sourced Quotes

Friendship is held to be the severest test of character. It is easy, we think, to be loyal to a family and clan, whose blood is in your own veins.

Charles Eastman
If a child is inclined to be grasping, or to cling to any of his or her little possessions, legends are related about the contempt and disgrace falling upon the ungenerous and mean person....

Charles Eastman
There were no temples or shrines among us save those of nature.

Charles Eastman
No one who is at all acquainted with the Indian in his home can deny that we are a polite people.

Charles Eastman
The religion of the Indian is the last thing about him that the man of another race will ever understand.

Charles Eastman
The logical man must either deny all miracles or none, and our American Indian myths and hero stories are perhaps, in themselves, quite as credible as those of the Hebrews of old.

Charles Eastman
The American Indian was an individualist in religion as in war. He had neither a national army nor an organized church.

Charles Eastman
The family was not only the social unit, but also the unit of government.

Charles Eastman
Our people, though capable of strong and durable feeling, were not demonstrative in their affection at any time, least of all in the presence of guests or strangers.

Charles Eastman
The red man divided mind into two parts, - the spiritual mind and the physical mind.

Charles Eastman
As a child I understood how to give; I have forgotten this grace since I became civilized.

Charles Eastman
The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity.

Charles Eastman
Each soul must meet the morning sun, the new sweet earth and the Great Silence alone.

Charles Eastman
[The Indian] sees no need for setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, since to him all days are God's.

Charles Eastman
The hospitality of the wigwam is only limited by the institution of war.

Charles Eastman
Indian names were either characteristic nicknames given in a playful spirit, deed names, birth names, or such as have a religious and symbolic meaning.

Charles Eastman
The elements and majestic forces in nature, Lightning, Wind, Water, Fire, and Frost, were regarded with awe as spiritual powers, but always secondary and intermediate in character.

Charles Eastman
It was our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be overcome.... Children must early learn the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving.... The Indians in their simplicity literally give away all that they have—to relatives, to guests of other tribes or clans, but above all to the poor and the aged, from whom they can hope for no return.

Charles Eastman
It has been said that the position of woman is the test of civilization, and that of our women was secure. In them was vested our standard of morals and the purity of our blood.

Charles Eastman
That is, we believed, the supreme duty of the parent, who only was permitted to claim in some degree the priestly office and function, since it is his creative and protecting power which alone approaches the solemn function of Deity.

Charles Eastman
The clan is nothing more than a larger family, with its patriarchal chief as the natural head, and the union of several clans by intermarriage and voluntary connection constitutes the tribe.

Charles Eastman
In every religion there is an element of the supernatural, varying with the influence of pure reason over its devotees.

Charles Eastman
More than this, even in those white men who professed religion we found much inconsistency of conduct. They spoke much of spiritual things, while seeking only the material.

Charles Eastman
But to have a friend, and to be true under any and all trials, is the mark of a man!

Charles Eastman
There was no religious ceremony connected with marriage among us, while on the other hand the relation between man and woman was regarded as in itself mysterious and holy.

Charles Eastman
If you ask him: "What is silence?" he will answer, "It is the Great Mystery! The holy silence is His voice!" If you ask: "What are the fruits of silence?" he will say: "They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity, and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of character."

Charles Eastman