Forrest Carter Quotes & Sayings

Indian believes they ain't but two sins ... bein a coward ... and turnin agin yer own kind. — Forrest Carter

Granma's name was Bonnie Bee. I knew that when I heard him late at night say, 'I kin ye, Bonnie Bee,' he was saying, 'I love ye,' for the feeling was in the words. — Forrest Carter

Ye see, Little Tree, ain't no way of learning, except by letting ye do. Iff'n I had stopped ye from buying the calf, ye'd have always thought ye'd ought to had it. Iff'n I'd told ye to buy it, ye'd blame me fer the calf dying. Ye'll have to learn as ye go. — Forrest Carter

Granma said when you come on something good, first thing to do is share it with whoever you can find; that way, the good spreads out where no telling it will go. Which is right. — Forrest Carter

Well, Mr. Carpetbagger. We got somethin' in this territory called the Missouri boat ride. -Josey Wales — Forrest Carter

Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is. — Forrest Carter

You cannot know where your people are going if you don't know where your people have been. — Forrest Carter

It is good that a man's enemies want him dead, for it proves he has lived a life of worth. — Forrest Carter

Granpa said if there was less words, there wouldn't be as much trouble in the world. He said privately to me that there was always some damn fool making up a word that served no purpose except to cause trouble. — Forrest Carter

He loves deep ... hates hard, ever'thing's that killed what he loves. All great warriors are sich men. — Forrest Carter

I felt total bad about it, and empty. Granpa said he knew how I felt, for he was feeling the same way. But Granpa said everything you lost which you had loved give you that feeling. He said the only way round it was not to love anything, which was worse because you would feel empty all the time. — Forrest Carter

The blue jay playing around the cabin means you are going to have plenty of good times and fun. The blue jay is a clown and bounces on the ends of branches and turns flips and teases other birds. — Forrest Carter

Grandma said [ ... ] when you come on something that is good, first thing to do is share it with whoever you can find; that way, the good spreads out to where no telling it will go. — Forrest Carter

Everything growing wild is a hundred times stronger than tame things. — Forrest Carter

Then sometime there in late March, after the Indian violets had come, we would be gathering on the mountain and the wind, raw and mean, would change for just a second. It would touch your face as soft as a feather. It had an earth smell. You knew springtime was on the way.
The next day, or the next (you would commence to hold your face out for the feel), the soft touch would come again. It would last a little longer and be sweeter and smell stronger. — Forrest Carter