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…

- Yoshida Shoin

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

- Yoshida Shoin

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…

- Yoshida Shoin

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…

- Yoshida Shoin

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…

- Yoshida Shoin

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…

- Yoshida Shoin

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.

- Yoshida Shoin

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…

- Yoshida Shoin

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 …

- Yoshida Shoin