A Christian life is an unending engagement on the battlefield.
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.
I train to kill, always.
I don’t feel negative emotions. I feel calm, composed and ready. And as it goes on I get better at it. By the time the fight is on, I don’t feel any emotions at all.
When you stop fighting, that’s death.
I’ve always been a fighter. If you tell me I can’t, I’ll die trying to prove you wrong.
Strength is the product of struggle; you must do what others don’t to achieve what others won’t.
The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.
I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men.
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
A warrior never worries about his fear.
A warrior considers himself already dead, so there is nothing to lose. The worst has already happened to him, therefore he’s clear and calm; judging him by his acts or by his words, one would never suspect that he has witnessed everything.
Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges.
The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.
To win any battle, you must fight as if you are already dead.
It may seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first.
You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
The only reason a warrior is alive is to fight, and the only reason a warrior fights is to win.
See to it that you temper yourself with one thousand days of practice, and refine yourself with ten thousand days of training.
Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.