It seems hopeless, hopeless. Those who eat meat [at public expense] are a mean, selfish lot, and so the country is doomed. Our only hope lies in the ….

When I consider the state of things in our fief, I find that those who hold positions and receive official stipends are incapable of the utmost in lo….

To consider oneself different from ordinary men is wrong, but it is right to hope that one will not remain like ordinary men..

What is important in a leader is a resolute will and determination. A man may be versatile and learned, but if he lacks resoluteness and determinatio….

Once a man's will is set, he need no longer rely on others or expect anything from the world. His vision encompasses Heaven and earth, past and prese….

Life and death, union and separation, follow hard upon one another. Nothing is steadfast but the will, nothing endures but one's achieve­ments. These….

As things stand now the feudal lords are content to look on while the shogunate carries on in a highhanded manner. Neither the lords nor the shogun c….

One who aspires to greatness should read and study, pursuing the True Way with such a firm resolve that he is perfectly straightforward and open, ris….

If a general and his men fear death and are apprehensive over possible defeat, then they will unavoidably suffer defeat and death. But if they make u….

Once the will is resolved, one's spirit is strengthened. Even a peasant's will is hard to deny, but a samurai of resolute will can sway ten thou­sand….

If the body dies, it does no harm to the mind, but if the mind dies, one can no longer act as a man even though the body survives..