Each year I revisit this quote. I think it is worth repeating...
So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view,
and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long
and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song
for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing
a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food
and for the joy of living;
if you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing,
for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die,
be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear
of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray
for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different
way; sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
- attributed to Tecumseh* (1768?-1813), Shawnee Nation
Happy birthday to
nickdcam, and happy early birthday to the_cornettist, milkybarbiatch, delwyncole, jpsorrow, gryphonrhi, impishtubist, called_daughter. brighteyed_jill, scribblerworks, mjolnir1964, altariel, pwilkinson, lukeski, seemag, 
heidi8, thrihyrne, astromachy, manonlechat, shalna, shiny_elfriend, green_key, reynardine, arisbe, and dirtwitch. May all of you enjoy many happy returns of the day!
* (Note: The historian in me demanded that I add this footnote, just FYI. While researching and writing this I failed to find an adequate source for the above quote, so I suspect it has been enhanced and adjusted over the years, and might not even have originated with him at all. The sentiments, however, fit extremely well with more verifiable statements and speeches made by Tecumseh.)
So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view,
and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long
and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song
for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing
a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food
and for the joy of living;
if you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing,
for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die,
be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear
of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray
for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different
way; sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
- attributed to Tecumseh* (1768?-1813), Shawnee Nation
Happy birthday to
nickdcam, and happy early birthday to the_cornettist, milkybarbiatch, delwyncole, jpsorrow, gryphonrhi, impishtubist, called_daughter. brighteyed_jill, scribblerworks, mjolnir1964, altariel, pwilkinson, lukeski, seemag, thrihyrne, astromachy, manonlechat, shalna, shiny_elfriend, green_key, reynardine, arisbe, and dirtwitch. May all of you enjoy many happy returns of the day!* (Note: The historian in me demanded that I add this footnote, just FYI. While researching and writing this I failed to find an adequate source for the above quote, so I suspect it has been enhanced and adjusted over the years, and might not even have originated with him at all. The sentiments, however, fit extremely well with more verifiable statements and speeches made by Tecumseh.)
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Comments
May 2015 be a great year for you.
This is a thought-provoking quote.
Oh, beautifully put! It strikes me the very same way.
Best wishes to you and yours for a New Year of beauty, wisdom, teaching and learning!
Thank you so much, my friend! And the same to you, too!
I need to get back to at least reading friends' LiveJournals. Facebook takes a lot of time, but it's a different creature.
Lovely entry to start the year with!
It's lovely to see you here on LJ. *hugs*
I'm so happy you liked this post as the start to the new year.
Religions all teach completely different and often contradictory things. That means they cannot all be correct. When it comes to something as important as facing eternity, it would seem wise to examine religions to determine which one - if any - is indeed correct.
Eternity is a long, long time. Best to get that right!
It's the emphasis on "trouble" that's the key to his point, I'd say. In context, I think this means that, if there's disagreement at the end of the day on religious issues, then we should find a way to coexist peacefully and agree to disagree. Tecumseh was no stranger to the "convert or die" and "convert or be erased" kind of mentality - surely "trouble" as well as troubling! - and to the deadly consequences that follow when one group doesn't respect the rights of another, and I expect that's what he's urging us against.