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A gift comes to you through no action of your own, free, having moved toward you without your beckoning. It is not a reward; you cannot earn it, or call it to you, or even deserve it. And yet it appears. Your only role is to be open-eyed and present. Gifts exist in a realm of humility and mystery—as with random acts of kindness, we do not know their source.

— Robin Wall Kimmerer Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)

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More quotes by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The teachings tell us that a harvest is made honorable by what you give in return for what you take.

Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)

Doing science with awe and humility is a powerful act of reciprocity with the more-than-human world.

Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)

Names are the way we humans build relationship, not only with each other but with the living world.

Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)

A path scented with sweetgrass leads to a landscape of forgiveness and healing for all who need it.

Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)

The truth of our relationship with the soil is written more clearly on the land than in any book.

Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Robin Wall Kimmerer (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.