To give a person an opinion one must first judge well whether that person is of the disposition to receive it or not.
Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams.
By being impatient, matters are damaged and great works cannot be done.
This is the substance of the Way of the Samurai: if by setting one’s heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way. his whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling.
Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning.
Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else.
Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.
Go ahead and gamble a lie. A person who will not tell you seven lies within a hundred yards is useless as a man.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.
Human life is truly a short affair. It is better to live doing the things that you like.
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.
In the Kamigata area, they have a sort of tiered lunchbox they use for a single day when flower viewing. Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot. The end is important in all things.
It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all Ways and be more and more in accord with his own.
Continue to spur a running horse.
A samurai will use a toothpick even though he has not eaten. Inside the skin of a dog, outside the hide of a tiger.
All of man’s work is a bloody business. That fact, today, is considered foolish, affairs are finished cleverly with words alone, and jobs that require effort are avoided. I would like young men to have some understanding of this.