Robin Wall Kimmerer on Memorial Day
born 1953 United States
← All quotes by Robin Wall Kimmerer
5 quotes
Gratitude doesn’t send you out shopping to find satisfaction; it comes as a gift rather than a commodity, subverting the foundation of the whole economy. That's good medicine for land and people alike.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Gratitude plants the seed for abundance.
I’ve heard it said that sometimes, in return for the gifts of the earth, gratitude is enough. It is our uniquely human gift to express thanks, because we have the awareness and the collective memory to remember that the world could well be otherwise, less generous than it is. But I think we are called to go beyond cultures of gratitude, to once again become cultures of reciprocity.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
As we give thanks for the Earth, will we live in such a way that the Earth can be grateful for us? (2015)
While expressing gratitude seems innocent enough, it is a revolutionary idea. In a consumer society, contentment is a radical proposition. Recognizing abundance rather than scarcity undermines an economy that thrives by creating unmet desires. Gratitude cultivates an ethic of fullness, but the economy needs emptiness.
Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)