Quote

There is nothing we should be quite so grateful for as the last line of the poem that goes, 'When your own heart asks.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

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Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Age: 60 †
Born: 1659
Born: June 11
Died: 1719
Died: November 30
Bushi
Philosopher
Writer
Hizen Domain
Heart
Line
Goes
Quite
Lines
Asks
Lasts
Last
Poem
Nothing
Grateful

More quotes by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

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There is not a man who does not get senile by the time he reaches sixty. And when one thinks that he will not be senile, he is already so.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Nothing is impossible in this world. Firm determination, it is said, can move heaven and earth. Things appear far beyond one's power, because one cannot set his heart on any arduous project due to want of strong will.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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If you are slain in battle, you should be resolved to have your corpse facing the enemy.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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It is said that one should not hesitate to correct himself when he has made a mistake. If he corrects himself without the least bit of delay, his mistakes will disappear.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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When confronted with two alternatives, life and death, one is to choose death without hesitation.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Bushido is realised in the presence of death. In the case of having to choose between life and death you should choose death. There is no other reasoning.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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To desire with one’s very soul every second of every day to accomplish one’s aim.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Light matters should be dealt with seriously. Serious matters should be dealt with lightly.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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The way of the Samurai is found in death.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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You cannot tell whether a person is good or bad by his vicissitudes in life. Good and bad fortune are matters of fate.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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There is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all. This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way and never thinks of himself as having finished.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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The person who practices an art is an artist, not a samurai, and one should have the intention of being called a samurai.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind... then the Great Way is right before your eyes.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo