Quote

One of the things my parents taught me, and I'll always be grateful as a gift, is to not ever let anybody else define me that for me to define myself. and I think that helped me a lot in assuming a leadership position.

Wilma Mankiller

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Wilma Mankiller
Age: 64 †
Born: 1945
Born: November 18
Died: 2010
Died: April 6
Author
Autobiographer
Tribal Chief
Writer
Сhief Of The Cherokee Nation
Tahlequah
Oklahoma
Chief Wilman Mankiller
A-ji-luhsgi Asgaya-dihi
Wilma Pearl Mankiller
Ever
Gift
Always
Anybody
Things
Leadership
Think
Parents
Thinking
Position
Define
Taught
Helped
Parent
Assuming
Else
Grateful

More quotes by Wilma Mankiller

Image
If you argue with a fool, someone passing by will not be able to tell who is the fool and who is not.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
A lot of young girls have looked to their career paths and have said they'd like to be chief. There's been a change in the limits people see.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
Cows run away from the storm while the buffalo charges toward it - and gets through it quicker. Whenever I’m confronted with a tough challenge, I do not prolong the torment, I become the buffalo.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
I think the most important issue we have as a people is what we started, and that is to begin to trust our own thinking again and belive in ourselves enough to think that we can articulate our own vision of the future and then work to make sure that that vision becomes a reality.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
America would be a better place if leaders would do more long-term thinking.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
Take care how you place your moccasins upon the Earth, step with care, for the faces of the future generations are looking up from the Earth waiting their turn for life.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
I hope many of you will be people that question why things are and why we have to do them the way we have always done them. I hope you will take some risks, exert some real leadership on issues, and if you will, dance along the edge of the roof as you continue for life.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
Whoever controls the education of our children controls the future.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
Prior to my election, young Cherokee girls would never have thought that they might grow up and become chief.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
I don't think anybody anywhere can talk about the future of their people or of an organization without talking about education. Whoever controls the education of our children controls our future.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
Growth is a painful process. If we’re ever going to collectively begin to grapple with the problems that we have collectively, we’re going to have to move back the veil and deal with each other on a more human level.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
Remember that I am just a woman who is living a very abundant life. Every step I take forward is on a path paved by strong Indian women before me.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
I want to be remembered as the person who helped us restore faith in ourselves.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
We celebrate Thanksgiving along with the rest of America, maybe in different ways and for different reasons. Despite everything that's happened to us since we fed the Pilgrims, we still have our language, our culture, our distinct social system. Even in a nuclear age, we still have a tribal people.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
Negative thoughts were treated by Cherokee healers with the same medicines as wounds, headaches, or physical illness. It was believed that unchecked negative thoughts can permeate the being and manifest themselves in negative actions.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
Individually and collectively, Cherokee people possess an extraordinary ability to face down adversity and continue moving forward.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
My ability to survive personal crises is really a mark of the character of my people. Individually and collectively, we must react with a tenacity that allows us again and again to bounce back from adversity.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
I learned a long time ago that I can't control the challenges the creator sends my way, but I can control the way I think about them and deal with them
Wilma Mankiller