If one thinks only of winning, a sordid victory will be worse than a defeat. For the most part, it becomes a squalid defeat.
The deepest love is often hidden.
I have found that the Way of the samurai is death. This means that when you are compelled to choose between life and death, you must quickly choose death.
There are few people who will make mistakes with fire after having once been burned.
Tether even a roasted chicken.
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.
You cannot tell whether a person is good or bad by his vicissitudes in life. Good and bad fortune are matters of fate.
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.
As long as people overlook matters, then inferiors can, without any fear, lead an easy and peaceful life.
It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this.
Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort.
A person who is discreet in speaking will be useful during the good times and will avoid punishment during the bad.
When someone is giving you his opinion, you should receive it with deep gratitude even though it is worthless. If you don’t, he will not tell you the things that he has seen and heard about you again.
It is better not to become acquainted with men about whom you have formerly had doubts. No matter what you do, they will be people by whom you will be tripped up or taken in.
The end is important in all things.
When one is writing a letter, they should think that the recipient will make it into a hanging scroll.
Singlemindedness is all-powerful.
The basic meaning of etiquette is to be quick at both the beginning and end and tranquil in the middle.