Joseph Bruchac > Quotes

“The best teachers have showed me that things have to be done bit by bit. Nothing that means anything happens quickly--we only think it does. The motion of drawing back a bow and sending an arrow straight into a target takes only a split second, but it is a skill many years in the making. So it is with a life, anyone's life. I may list things that might be described as my accomplishments in these few pages, but they are only shadows of the larger truth, fragments separated from the whole cycle of becoming. And if I can tell an old-time story now about a man who is walking about, waudjoset ndatlokugan, a forest lodge man, alesakamigwi udlagwedewugan, it is because I spent many years walking about myself, listening to voices that came not just from the people but from animals and trees and stones.”
― Joseph Bruchac

“Strong words outlast the paper they are written upon. ”
― Joseph Bruchac, Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two

“Never think that war is a good thing, grandchildren. Though it may be necessary at times to defend our people, war is a sickness that must be cured. War is a time out of balance. When it is truly over, we must work to restore peace and sacred harmony once again.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two

“We need to walk to know sacred places, those around us and those within. We need to walk to remember the songs.”
― Joseph Bruchac

“Kill every enemy twice, Wilky said. Better than gettin' shot by a soldier pretending to be dead.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two

“A story is a burden which must be carried with as much care as we carry a sleeping child”
― Joseph Bruchac

“If it wasn't for good," my mother says, "we human beings would have been wiped out a long time ago. Either the monsters would have gotten us or we would have killed each other off with greed and jealousy and anger. So we have to believe in good. We have to look for the good in ourselves.”
― Joseph Bruchac, The Return of Skeleton Man

“Another of the hard things about being in a war, grandchildren, is that although there are times of quiet when the fighting has stopped, you know you will soon be fighting again. Those quiet times give you the chance to think about what has happened. Some of it you would rather not think about, as you remember the pain and the sorrow. You also have time to worry about what will happen when you go into battle again.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two

“Librarians. . . have been my lifelong friends, guides and heroes.”
― Joseph Bruchac

“If I've learned one thing in the last few days it is that every question does not need to be answered. A story is not true just because of it's literal veracity. It is the message, what it teaches, that counts.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Dragon Castle

“As long as we can remember them, our families will always be with us.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Killer of Enemies

“The best teachers have shown me that things have to be done bit by bit. Nothing that means anything happens quickly - we only think it does.”
― Joseph Bruchac

“The old man
must have stopped our car
two dozen times to climb out
and gather into his hands
the small toads blinded
by our lights and leaping,
live drops of rain.

The rain was falling,
a mist about his white hair
and I kept saying
You can’t save them all
accept it, get back in
wev’e got places to go.

But, leathery hands full
of wet brown life
knee deep in summer
roadside grass,
he just smiled and said
They have places to go too.”
― Joseph Bruchac

“Guilt can make you doubt yourself at the very moment when you need to proceed with certainty.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Killer of Enemies

“I wish you had been there with me in that picture,” he used to say to Wilsie and me. “It is so lonely being there forever without another Indian.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two

“The female of species is deadlier than the male.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Killer of Enemies

“It is important to understand that there are many different ways of seeing the world and expressing the wisdom of Native belief...No one voice speaks for all voices...”
― Joseph Bruchac

“Author’s Note

Then there is the land itself. Our Native people have always believed that the land talks to us when we listen. I have stood on the same ground where Squanto walked three centuries ago, feeling the sea breeze in my face and smelling the smoke from cooking fires, where the same foods he would have eaten were being cooked in the traditional way. As I stood there, I, too, heard the whisper of the earth, a song on the wind reminding me that those ancient voices will never be gone.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

“So it is that both this breathing moment and what is called "the future"are always linked with what is called "the past." So it is that dreams become reality, that memories move back and forth between dreams, and that our stories are a swaying, dancing bridge between them.”
― Joseph Bruchac

“I am Squanto. I am known to all those who gather here: English, Pokanoket, Nemasket, even a few of my own surviving Patuxets. I speak to you as a pniese, a man of honor. I will never leave this land. I give thanks for all of our people to the Creator of All Things.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

“Hmm. I’m tempted. But what works against my temptation is the ancient junior high code of Omerta. Nobody squeals on nobody, no matter what.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Bearwalker: A Chilling Supernatural Tale About the Mohawk Legend for Children

“No one should feel guilty about the past. Unless
they're not doing
anything about the present.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Rez Dogs

“Like the meaning of my name, questions follow me wherever I go.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Pocahontas

“It is not hard work, because all work together... what one hand finds hard to lift is lighter than a feather when many lift together.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Pocahontas

“I think of how our two people have become entwined. I feel hope for our children in the seasons to come. With our help, the English have learned enough of hunting and fishing to provide the food for a great feast such as this one--this feast for all our people.
Now as we eat together, I give thanks. I have seen more in my life than most men, whether Indian or English. I have seen both death and life come to this land that gives itself to English and Indian alike. I pray that there will be many more such days to give thanks together in the years that follow.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

“To be honest, I was also upset about what I knew I was heading into. A whole new school where I’d have to make new friends (if I was lucky, which was unlikely) and avoid being stereotyped as a Native American midget (which was probably inevitable). So I was struggling between feeling worried about my mom and feeling sorry for myself, and being angry at her for deserting me and being angry at myself for being so selfish. Although I tried not to show it, my face probably looked like a battlefield that day.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Bearwalker: A Chilling Supernatural Tale About the Mohawk Legend for Children

“I spoke to Massasoit, the sachem of the Pokanoket, as a pniese should, with respect and honor. “Befriend the English,” I said. “Make them come to understand and support our people.”
Massasoit did not listen at first. He watched silently through that winter.
Then Samoset came to visit. He was a sachem of the Pemaquid people, who lived farther up the coast. He had done much trading with the English. He knew some of their language.
“Let me talk with the Songlismoniak,” he said to Massasoit, nodding to me as he spoke. Massasoit agreed.
The next day, March 16th of 1621, Samoset strode into the English settlement.
“Welcome, English,” he said in their tongue. He showed them the two arrows in his hand. One had a flint arrowhead, the other had the arrowhead removed. The arrows symbolized what we offered them, either war or peace.
The English placed a coat about his shoulders to warm him. They invited him into one of their houses. They gave him small water, biscuits and butter, pudding and cheese.
“The food was so good,” Samoset said to me later, laughing as he spoke, “I decided to spend the night.”
When he left the next day, he promised to return with a friend who spoke their language well.
So it was that five days later, on the 22nd of March, I walked with Samoset back into my own village. Once Patuxet, now it was Plymouth. I looked around me. Though much was changed, I knew that I at last had returned to the land of my home.
“Perhaps these men can share our land as friends,” I told my brother, at my side.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

“So it was that five days later, on the 22nd of March, I walked with Samoset back into my own village. Once Patuxet, now it was Plymouth. I looked around me. Though much was changed, I knew that I at last had returned to the land of my home.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

“My story is both strange and true. I was born in the year the English call 1590. My family were leaders of the Patuxet people and I, too, was raised to lead. But in 1614 I was taken to Spain against my will. Now it is 1621 and I am again in my homeland. My name is Squanto. I would like to tell you my tale.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

“Like most of those who seek to harm the weak, he’s a coward at heart.”
― Joseph Bruchac, Bearwalker: A Chilling Supernatural Tale About the Mohawk Legend for Children