Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness. Yamamoto Tsunetomo More Quotes by Yamamoto Tsunetomo More Quotes From Yamamoto Tsunetomo Continue to spur a running horse. Yamamoto Tsunetomo spurshorserunning If one thinks only of winning, a sordid victory will be worse than a defeat. For the most part, it becomes a squalid defeat. Yamamoto Tsunetomo winningwarthinking By bringing shame to a person, how could one expect to make him a better man? Yamamoto Tsunetomo shamemenwar If one is but secure at the foundation, he will not be pained by departure from minor details or affairs that are contrary to expectation. But in the end, the details of a matter are important. The right and wrong of one's way of doing things are found in trivial matters. Yamamoto Tsunetomo foundationimportantexpectations It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this. Yamamoto Tsunetomo wake-updifferentdream Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it was somewhere else. No one seems to have noticed this fact. But grasping this firmly, one must pile experience upon experience. And once one has come to this understanding he will be a different person from that point on, though he may not always bare it in mind. When one understands this settling into single-mindedness well, his affairs will thin out. Yamamoto Tsunetomo understandingsomewhere-elselife In China there was once a man who liked pictures of dragons, and his clothing and furnishings were all designed accordingly. His deep affection for dragons was brought to the attention of the dragon god, and onde day a real dragon appeared before his window. It is said that he died of fright. He was probably a man who always spoke big words but acted differently when facing the real thing. Yamamoto Tsunetomo realmenlife There is nothing we should be quite so grateful for as the last line of the poem that goes, 'When your own heart asks. Yamamoto Tsunetomo gratefullinesheart It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. Yamamoto Tsunetomo importantageyears To desire with one’s very soul every second of every day to accomplish one’s aim. Yamamoto Tsunetomo accomplishsouldesire I have found that the Way of the samurai is death. This means that when you are compelled to choose between life and death, you must quickly choose death. Yamamoto Tsunetomo life-and-deathwarmean Calculating people are contemptable. The reason for this is that calculation deals with loss and gain, and the loss and gain mind never stops. Death is considered loss and life is considered gain. Thus, death is something that such a person does not care for, and he is contemptable. Furthermore, scholars and their like are men who with wit and speech hide their own true cowardice and greed. People often misjudge this. Yamamoto Tsunetomo truthlossmen One must know the so-called 'lesson of a downpour. A man, caught in a sudden rain en route, dashes along the road not to get wet or drenched. Once one takes it for granted that in rain he naturally gets wet, he can be in a tranquil frame of mind even when soaked to the skin. This lesson applies to everything. Yamamoto Tsunetomo mindrainmen One should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. Yamamoto Tsunetomo spacedecisionwar It is a wretched thing that the young men of today are so contriving and so proud of their material posessions. Men with contriving hearts are lacking in duty. Lacking in duty, they will have no self-respect. Yamamoto Tsunetomo selfheartmen When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about going at it in a long roundabout way. One's heart may slacken, he may miss his chance, and by and large there will be no success. The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong. Yamamoto Tsunetomo militaryheartthinking It is a principle of the art of war that one should simply lay down his life and strike. If one's opponent also does the same, it is a even match. Defeating one's opponent is then a matter of faith and destiny. Yamamoto Tsunetomo militarywarart If a retainer will just think about what he is to do for the day at hand, he will be able to do anything. If it is a single day's work, one should be able to put up with it. Tomorrow, too is but a single day. Yamamoto Tsunetomo ablehandsthinking Bushido is realised in the presence of death. In the case of having to choose between life and death you should choose death. There is no other reasoning. Yamamoto Tsunetomo life-and-deathcivilizationmean The person who practices an art is an artist, not a samurai, and one should have the intention of being called a samurai. Yamamoto Tsunetomo should-havewarart
