Traditional indigenous cultures in many parts of the world have displayed a profound appreciation of the relationship between human and ecosystem health, something global culture is once again trying to rediscover under the label of sustainability. A spiritual resource for sustainable living, these verses record the inimitable practicality of stories and proverbs told by the Igbo people of West Africa. If you imitate the upright, Then you will be upright; If you imitate the crooked, Then you will be crooked. The collection of sayings is based on life in villages, farms and forests, treating birds, insects and animals as everyday familiars. The stories personify wild creatures (primarily, the tortoise) to offer moral instruction about greed, power, and the natural human trait of being ruled by transient appetites.