Whether people be of high or low birth, rich or poor, old or young, enlightened or confused, they are all alike in that they will one day die.
Yamamoto TsunetomoRead
Every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. There is a saying of the elders that goes, 'Step from under the eaves and you're a dead man. Leave the gate and the enemy is waiting.' This is not a matter of being careful. It is to consider oneself as dead beforehand.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Embrace life with urgency, as if each day is a chance to confront mortality.
This quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing the inevitability of death in order to live life to the fullest. By considering oneself as 'dead' each day, one is encouraged to shed complacency and approach life with a sense of urgency and determination, making the most of every moment and being prepared for the challenges that come with living.
Themes
MortalityUrgencyLifeAwarenessPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about making the most of opportunities.
More from Yamamoto Tsunetomo
All quotes →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 TsunetomoRead
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 TsunetomoRead
Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day one should meditate on being carried away by surging waves, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease.
Yamamoto TsunetomoRead
What is called generosity is really compassion. In the Shin'ei it is written "Seen from the eye of compassion, there is noone to be disliked. One who has sinned is to be pitied all the more." There is no limit to the breadth and depth of ones heart. There is room enough for all. That we still worship the sages of the three ancient kingdoms is because their compassion reaches us yet today.
Yamamoto TsunetomoRead
The way of the Samurai is found in death.
Yamamoto TsunetomoRead
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