John Dunbar: [to his army captors who are interrogating him, in Lakota] My name is Dances with Wolves. I will not talk to you anymore. You are not worth talking to.

John Dunbar: The strangeness of this life cannot be measured: in trying to produce my own death, I was elevated to the status of a living hero.

Wind In His Hair: We will shoot some arrows into the white man. If he truly has medicine, he will not be hurt. If he has no medicine, he will be dead.

John Dunbar: As I heard my Sioux name called out over and over, I know who I really was.

Stands With a Fist: My place is with you. I go where you go.

Timmons: [after he has bent over and farted] Why don’t you put that in your book?

John Dunbar: I am Lieutenant John Jay Dunbar and this is my post.

John Dunbar: Dunbar, not Dumb Bear.

Wind In His Hair: Dances With Wolves. I am Wind In His Hair. Do you see that I am your friend? Can you see that you will always be my friend?

Major Fambrough: You wish to see the frontier?
John Dunbar: Yes sir, before it’s gone.

Major Fambrough: Sir knight? I’ve just pissed in my pants… and nobody can do anything about it.

Ten Bears: You are the only white man I have ever known. I have thought about you a lot. More than you think. And I understand your concern. But I think you are wrong. The white man the soldiers are looking for no longer exists. Now there is only a Sioux named Dances With Wolves.

John Dunbar: We are trying for a baby.
Kicking Bird: No waiting?
John Dunbar: No waiting.
Kicking Bird: I was just thinking that of all the trails in this life, there are some that matter most. It is the trail of a true human being. I think you are on this trail, and it is good to see.

Lt. Elgin: You bash that prisoner one more time, I’ll put those shackles on *you*.

John Dunbar: The strangeness of this life cannot be measured: in trying to produce my own death, I was elevated to the status of a living hero.

Kicking Bird: [after receiving the pipe from Dances With Wolves] How, does it smoke?

John Dunbar: [voice over] It seems everyday ends with a miracle here. And whatever God may be, I thank God for this day

John Dunbar: They were a people so eager to laugh, so devoted to family, so dedicated to each other. The only word that comes to mind is harmony.

John Dunbar: Nothing I have been told about these people is correct. They are not thieves or beggars. They are not the bogeymen they are made out to be. On the contrary, they are polite guest and I enjoy their humor.

Stands With a Fist: [translating for Kicking Bird] He thanks Dances with Wolves for coming.
John Dunbar: Who is Dances with Wolves?
Stands With a Fist: It is the name all the people are calling you now.

John Dunbar: [at the celebration of the buffalo feast, noticing a big Sioux man has his Lieutenant's hat] That’s my hat… that’s my hat!
Big Warrior: [in Lakota, as all becomes quiet in the tent] I found it on the prarie. It’s mine.
Wind In His Hair: [stands up, in Lakota] The hat belongs to Lieutenant.
Big Warrior: He left it on the prarie. He didn’t want it.
Wind In His Hair: Well, you can see he wants it now. We all know it’s a soldier hat. We all know who wears it. If you want to keep it, that’s fine. But give something for it.
[the Sioux takes his knife and sheath off his belt and gives it to Dunbar]
Wind In His Hair: [in English, to Dunbar] Good… trade!

Ten Bears: Let us smoke a while.
John Dunbar: [voiceover] With Ten Bears, it was always more than a while. There was purpose in everything he did, and I knew he wanted me to stay. But I was sure of myself. I would be an excuse, and that’s all the Army would need to find this place. I pushed him as far as I could to move the camp. But in the end, he only smiled and talked of simple pleasures. He reminded me that at his age, a good fire was better than anything. Ten Bears was an extraordinary man.