--- title: "4 Indigenous Quotes By Derrick Jensen" description: "4 Indigenous quotes by Derrick Jensen. Plus more from Derrick Jensen and more Indigenous sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/derrick-jensen-2824_differences_so-many-indigenous-people-have-said-to-m_135226.jpg" --- > [So many indigenous people have said to me that the fundamental difference between Western and indigenous ways of being is that even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/so-many-indigenous-people-have-said-to-me-that-the-fundamental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/derrick-jensen-2824_differences_so-many-indigenous-people-have-said-to-m_135226.jpg) > [In all of my books, I've emphasized that the fundamental difference between civilized and indigenous ways of being is that, for even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/in-all-of-my-books-i-ve-emphasized-that-the-fundamental-difference/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/435/derrick-jensen-2824_being_in-all-of-my-books-i-ve-emphasized-that_833436.png) > [We are members of the most destructive culture ever to exist. Our assault on the natural world, on indigenous and other cultures,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/we-are-members-of-the-most-destructive-culture-ever-to-exist-our/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/derrick-jensen-2824_assault_we-are-members-of-the-most-destructive-c_1434305.png) > [“The fundamental difference between civilized and indigenous ways of being is that for even the most open-minded of the civilized, listening to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-fundamental-difference-between-civilized-and-indigenous-ways-of/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24d/derrick-jensen-2824_indigenous_the-fundamental-difference-between-civil_2240190.jpg) ## Other authors on Indigenous - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rigoberta-menchu-79161.jpg) Rigoberta Menchu 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/rigoberta-menchu/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-evo-morales-34390.jpg) Evo Morales 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/evo-morales/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/noam-chomsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-malcolm-fraser-62853.jpg) Malcolm Fraser 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/malcolm-fraser/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rebecca-adamson-77772.jpg) Rebecca Adamson 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/rebecca-adamson/) - [Perry Bellegarde 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/perry-bellegarde/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b002/author-patty-mills-6365.jpg) Patty Mills 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/patty-mills/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b002/author-lily-gladstone-6158.jpg) Lily Gladstone 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/lily-gladstone/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b015/author-kevin-rudd-56900.jpg) Kevin Rudd 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/kevin-rudd/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-sandra-cisneros-82933.jpg) Sandra Cisneros 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/sandra-cisneros/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-roxanne-dunbarortiz-81448.jpg) Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/roxanne-dunbar-ortiz/) - [Jackie Huggins 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/jackie-huggins/) ## More by Derrick Jensen > [The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-engine-for-massive-environmental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“In sum, one of the primary things I learned was how to kill time. I learned also to wish away my life. I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/in-sum-one-of-the-primary-things-i-learned-was-how-to-kill-time-i/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“I had broken the most basic commandment of our culture: Thou shalt pretend there is nothing wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/i-had-broken-the-most-basic-commandment-of-our-culture-thou-shalt/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“Someone asked me once at a talk why I so stress the positive with my students yet am such an unstinting critic of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/someone-asked-me-once-at-a-talk-why-i-so-stress-the-positive-with-my/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [If the world is presented as resources to be exploited, then, more than likely, you're going to exploit the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/if-the-world-is-presented-as-resources-to-be-exploited-then-more-than/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [It's no wonder we don't defend the land where we live. We don't live here. We live in television programs and movies and books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/it-s-no-wonder-we-don-t-defend-the-land-where-we-live-we-don-t-live/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“ISOLATION DOES STRANGE THINGS to a person’s mind. This is true for any social creature, human or otherwise. Monkeys taken from their mothers at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/isolation-does-strange-things-to-a-person-s-mind-this-is-true-for-any/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [My great-grandmother grew up in a sod house in Nebraska. When she was a tiny girl - in other words, only four human generations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/my-great-grandmother-grew-up-in-a-sod-house-in-nebraska-when-she-was/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Where will you drive your own picket stake? Where will you choose to make your stand? Give me a threshold, a specific point at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/where-will-you-drive-your-own-picket-stake-where-will-you-choose-to/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“So often, environmentalists and others working to slow the destruction are capable of plainly describing the problems (Who wouldn’t be? The problems are neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/so-often-environmentalists-and-others-working-to-slow-the-destruction/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Forests precede us and deserts dog our heels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/forests-precede-us-and-deserts-dog-our-heels/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“The condition of alienation, of being asleep, of being unconscious, of being out of one’s mind, is the condition of the normal man. Society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-condition-of-alienation-of-being-asleep-of-being-unconscious-of/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [So many indigenous people have said to me that the fundamental difference between Western and indigenous ways of being is that even the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/so-many-indigenous-people-have-said-to-me-that-the-fundamental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [When dams were erected on the Columbia, salmon battered themselves against the concrete, trying to return home. I expect no less from us. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/when-dams-were-erected-on-the-columbia-salmon-battered-themselves/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [People say 'what do you mean' when you talk about 'bringing down civilization.' What I really mean is depriving the rich of the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/people-say-what-do-you-mean-when-you-talk-about-bringing-down/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indigenous/derrick-jensen/#itemlist", "name": "4 Indigenous Quotes By Derrick Jensen", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "So many indigenous people have said to me that the fundamental difference between Western and indigenous ways of being is that even the most open-minded westerners generally view listening to the natural world as a metaphor, as opposed to the way the world really is. 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