Explore Quotes by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

The Four Oaths: Never be late with respect to the way of the warrior; be useful to the lord; be respectful to your parents; get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of man.

Looking comparatively at the good things, you will see that they are not excluded from wisdom, humanity and bravery.

A warrior should not say something fainthearted, even casually. He should set his mind to this beforehand. Even in trifling matters the depths of one's heart can be seen.

Go ahead and gamble a lie. A person who will not tell you seven lies within a hundred yards is useless as a man.

The person who practices an art is an artist, not a samurai, and one should have the intention of being called a samurai.

One should be wary of talking on end about such subjects as learning, morality or folklore in front of elders or people of rank. It is disagreeable to listen to.

The saying 'the arts aid the body' is for samurai of other regions. For samurai of the Nabeshima clan the arts bring ruin to the body.

Covetousness, anger and foolishness are things to sort out well. When bad things happen in the world, if you look at them comparatively, they are not unrelated to these three things.

There is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all. This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way and never thinks of himself as having finished.

You cannot tell whether a person is good or bad by his vicissitudes in life. Good and bad fortune are matters of fate.

As long as people overlook matters, then inferiors can, without any fear, lead an easy and peaceful life.

In the eyes of mercy, no one should have hateful thoughts. Feel pity for the man who is even more at fault. The area and size of mercy is limitless.

When delivering something like an important letter or other written materials, grasp it firmly in your hand as you go and do not release it once, but hand it over directly to the recipient.

By inconsistency and frivolity we stray from the Way and show ourselves to be beginners. In this we do much harm.

An affected laugh shows lack of self-respect in a man and lewdness in a woman. It is carelessness to go about with one's hands inside the slits in the sides of his hakama.

It is said that one should not hesitate to correct himself when he has made a mistake. If he corrects himself without the least bit of delay, his mistakes will disappear.

Even if one's head were to be suddenly cut off, he should be able to do one more action with certainty.

The basic meaning of etiquette is to be quick at both the beginning and end and tranquil in the middle.

As everything in this world is but a sham, Death is the only sincerity.

By bringing shame to a person, how could one expect to make him a better man?

If one thinks only of winning, a sordid victory will be worse than a defeat. For the most part, it becomes a squalid defeat.