--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Humankind has not woven the web of life…" description: "\"“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba4/chief-seattle-9022_life_humankind-has-not-woven-the-web-of-life_841648.jpg" --- # Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one… ![“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."-- Chief Seattle, Duwamish” quote by Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba4/chief-seattle-9022_life_humankind-has-not-woven-the-web-of-life_841648.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba4/chief-seattle-9022_life_humankind-has-not-woven-the-web-of-life_841648.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba4/chief-seattle-9022_life_humankind-has-not-woven-the-web-of-life_841648.jpg) > ““Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."-- Chief Seattle, Duwamish”” [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humanity is part of a larger ecological network; harming the environment harms us. **In simple terms:** We are linked to nature; harming it hurts us. Key Takeaway Protect the environment for our own survival. Themes environment interdependence responsibility Mood reflective concerned Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - education - personal lifestyle choices Key Concepts ecology systems thinking indigenous wisdom Questions to Reflect On - How can individuals influence systemic change? - What responsibilities do we have to future generations? A Different Perspective Human actions are limited by economic and political forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humankind/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Web of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/web-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/humankind-has-not-woven-the-web-of-life-we-are-but-one-thread-within-2/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [All things are bound together. All things connect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/all-things-are-bound-together-all-things-connect/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [“All things are connected like the blood that unites us. We do not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-harder/all-things-are-connected-like-the-blood-that-unites-us-we-do-not/) Heather Harder > [We have woven a web, you and I, attached to this world but a separate world of our own invention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/we-have-woven-a-web-you-and-i-attached-to-this-world-but-a-separate/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Chief Seattle, of the Indians that inhabited the Seattle area, wrote a wonderful paper that has to do with putting oneself in tune with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/chief-seattle-of-the-indians-that-inhabited-the-seattle-area-wrote-a/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [“Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints. —CHIEF SEATTLE (SEATHL), DUWAMISH-SUQUAMISH, 1785–1866 A”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-jean/take-only-memories-leave-nothing-but-footprints-chief-seattle-seathl/) Terri Jean > [Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/man-does-not-weave-this-web-of-life-he-is-merely-a-strand-of-it/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/will-you-teach-your-children-what-we-have-taught-our-children-that/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [To harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/to-harm-the-earth-is-to-heap-contempt-on-its-creator/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the children of the Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/all-things-are-connected-whatever-befalls-the-earth-befalls-the/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [Man did not weave the web of life. He is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/man-did-not-weave-the-web-of-life-he-is-merely-a-strand-in-it/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [All creation is one. What we do to one, we do to the entire web of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/all-creation-is-one-what-we-do-to-one-we-do-to-the-entire-web-of-life/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/all-things-are-connected-like-the-blood-which-unites-one-family/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/the-earth-does-not-belong-to-man-man-belongs-to-the-earth-all-things/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [The roles I think about and can't stop thinking about - on the subway, when I'm riding my bike, when I'm running - are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-pace/the-roles-i-think-about-and-can-t-stop-thinking-about-on-the-subway/) [Lee Pace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-pace/) ## More by Chief Seattle > [Earth does not belong to us; we belong to earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/earth-does-not-belong-to-us-we-belong-to-earth/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [Tribe follows tribe, nations follow nations like the tides of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/tribe-follows-tribe-nations-follow-nations-like-the-tides-of-the-sea/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [Your God loves your people and hates mine; he folds his strong arms lovingly around the white man and leads him as a father…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/your-god-loves-your-people-and-hates-mine-he-folds-his-strong-arms/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/we-know-that-the-white-man-does-not-understand-our-ways-one-portion/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [Our people are ebbing away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return. The white man's God cannot love our people, or He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/our-people-are-ebbing-away-like-a-rapidly-receding-tide-that-will/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [“The white man will never be alone. Let him be just, and deal kindly with my people. For the dead are not powerless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/the-white-man-will-never-be-alone-let-him-be-just-and-deal-kindly/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/you-must-teach-your-children-that-the-ground-beneath-their-feet-is/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/when-the-earth-is-sick-the-animals-will-begin-to-disappear-when-that/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/the-earth-does-not-belong-to-man-man-belongs-to-the-earth-all-things/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [Humans merely share the Earth. We can only protect the land, not own it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/humans-merely-share-the-earth-we-can-only-protect-the-land-not-own-it/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [We are a part of the earth and it is part of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/we-are-a-part-of-the-earth-and-it-is-part-of-us/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [There is no death, only a change of worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/there-is-no-death-only-a-change-of-worlds/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [What is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/what-is-there-to-life-if-a-man-cannot-hear-the-lonely-cry-of-the/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/all-things-share-the-same-breath-the-beast-the-tree-the-man-the-air/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [To us, the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their resting place is hallowed ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/to-us-the-ashes-of-our-ancestors-are-sacred-and-their-resting-place/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) [Explore all 76 Chief Seattle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) ## More Humankind quotes > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [“We shall be inhuman - as humankind's greatest conquest. To be is to be beyond the human. To be a human being doesn't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarice-lispector/we-shall-be-inhuman-as-humankind-s-greatest-conquest-to-be-is-to-be/) [Clarice Lispector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarice-lispector/) > [We were all children once. And we all share the desire for the well-being of our children, which has always been and will continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/we-were-all-children-once-and-we-all-share-the-desire-for-the-well/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [“The representation of women in the society, especially through mass media has been the most delusional act ever done on the grounds of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-representation-of-women-in-the-society-especially-through-mass/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The only way to stave off boredom, in a complex domesticated primate like humankind, is to increase one's intelligence. This is not appealing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/the-only-way-to-stave-off-boredom-in-a-complex-domesticated-primate/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [There's nothing I believe in more strongly than getting young people interested in science and engineering, for a better tomorrow, for all humankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/there-s-nothing-i-believe-in-more-strongly-than-getting-young-people/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [I firmly believe that the mission of religion in the 21st century must be to contribute concretely to the peaceful coexistence of humankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/i-firmly-believe-that-the-mission-of-religion-in-the-21st-century/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [“Humankind has not learned about balance, let alone practiced it. It is guided by greed and ambition, steered by fear. In this way it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-l-weiss/humankind-has-not-learned-about-balance-let-alone-practiced-it-it-is/) [Brian L. Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-l-weiss/) > [“If you are HUMAN, then the limit of what you can do, what you learn, what you can experience HAS NOT YET BEEN REACHED.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvia-hartmann/if-you-are-human-then-the-limit-of-what-you-can-do-what-you-learn/) [Silvia Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvia-hartmann/) > [ \[Margot Hentoff\] thinks - first of all, she - this I hear from a lot of people beside her. She thinks that men have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/margot-hentoff-thinks-first-of-all-she-this-i-hear-from-a-lot-of/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [“There is only One Human race; Humankind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/there-is-only-one-human-race-humankind/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [When we have all data online it will be great for humanity. It is a prerequisite to solving many problems that humankind faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cailliau/when-we-have-all-data-online-it-will-be-great-for-humanity-it-is-a/) [Robert Cailliau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cailliau/) > [We all dream; it is a mystery in which all humankind participates. I realize this is an assumption, but it is one that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-d-chumbley/we-all-dream-it-is-a-mystery-in-which-all-humankind-participates-i/) Andrew D. Chumbley > [The race of humankind would perish did they cease to aid each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/the-race-of-humankind-would-perish-did-they-cease-to-aid-each-other/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) [Browse all 736 Humankind quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humankind/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. 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