Quote

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

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
Mark
Crises
Personal
Tenacity
Ability
Bounce
Character
React
Back
Allows
Must
Adversity
Really
Survive
Collectively
People
Crisis
Individually

More quotes by Wilma Mankiller

Image
Individually and collectively, Cherokee people possess an extraordinary ability to face down adversity and continue moving forward.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
I've run into more discrimination as a woman than as an Indian.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
I want to be remembered as the person who helped us restore faith in ourselves.
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
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
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
America would be a better place if leaders would do more long-term thinking.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
People say that crisis changes people and turns ordinary people into wiser or more responsible ones.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
It should be remembered that hundreds of people of African ancestry also walked the Trail of Tears with the Cherokee during the forced removal of 1838-1839. Although we know about the terrible human suffering of our native people and the members of other tribes during the removal, we rarely hear of those black people who also suffered.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
Friends describe me as someone who likes to sing and dance along the edge of the roof. I try to encourage young women to be willing to take risks, to stand up for the things they believe in, and to step up and accept the challenge of serving in leadership roles.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.
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
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
An Indian is an Indian regardless of the degree of Indian blood or which little government card they do or do not possess.
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
Women in leadership roles can help restore balance and wholeness to our communities.
Wilma Mankiller
Image
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
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
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