“Walden is the self-proclaimed triumph of the isolated, superior individual.”

— Paula Gunn Allen, Off the Reservation: Reflections on Boundary-Busting Border-Crossing Loose Cannons (1998)

About Paula Gunn Allen

Laguna Pueblo and Sioux poet, scholar and novelist, author of 'The Sacred Hoop' (1986).

“Acceptance is the better part of grief.”

“Isn't it time we realized the absurdity of calling a tiny brook a mainstream, consigning the great river to marginality?”

“There is a widespread belief that we, Native American and nonnative alike, have nothing to celebrate.”

“It was for this that I've been training myself, it was for this that I was practising.”

“For freedom is not acquired by satisfying yourself with what you desire, but by destroying your desire.”

“Ask yourself at every moment, "Is this necessary?"”

“A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all—that is myself.”

“Up! mind thine own aim, and God speed the mark!”

“It may be called the Master Passion—the hunger for Self-Approval.”