“Patience, Gentleness, Strength, Honesty”

“This is a short essay on the quote “Patience, gentleness, strength, honesty. Animals can teach us more about ourselves than any teacher.” from the book Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. I will tell what I think about it, how it fits in to the story, and how is it related to the main character.”

Did you know that animals can teach us about ourselves more than any teacher? In the book “Touching Spirit Bear” an old Native American man named Edwin tells Cole a very important quote that finally leads to Coles change in the end. You should always listen to your elders because they may teach you something or tell you something that is very life changing or important.

The quote, “Patience, gentleness, strength, honesty. Animals can teach us more about ourselves than any teacher.” Is a very inspiring quote and it makes tons of sense in this story. Cole is stalked many times and even attack a few times by a big Spirit Bear that follows him in his shadows. That’s the big point in the quote, Edwin tells Cole that “Animals can teach us more about ourselves” which he is obviously talking about the Spirit Bear in that sentence. I think that this quote is probably main quote in this book, because it explains it in that entire quote. All Edwin is telling Cole is that he needs to respect animals more than he does already, because if he doesn’t there going to come back to get him. Cole never cares about what anyone says to him, so he thought he could be the tough guy and take out the Spirit Bear. Later that majorly backfired on him, he ran up to the bear and tried to kill it, but the bear actually ended up attacking him. That is when Cole learns his lesson, and that is where the quote kicks in. Again the quote states that "Animals teach us more about ourselves, more than any teacher could teach us", Cole finally learns much about himself more than he ever has before. Cole learns that he is a better and much stronger person that he once was before, that was the biggest change in young Cole's life.

In the end it is always right to listen to your elders, and respect animals in the end because if you don’t you might have some major consequences down the road. The quote, “Patience, gentleness, strength, honesty. Animals can teach us more about ourselves than any teacher.” Is the most important quote in the story “Touching Spirit Bear”.