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
Quite
Lines
Asks
Lasts
Last
Poem
Nothing
Grateful
Heart
Line
Goes

More quotes by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

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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.
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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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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Continue to spur a running horse.
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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Go ahead and gamble a lie. A person who will not tell you seven lies within a hundred yards is useless as a man.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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The basic meaning of etiquette is to be quick at both the beginning and end and tranquil in the middle.
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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Light matters should be dealt with seriously. Serious matters should be dealt with lightly.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Sincerity does not only complete the self it is the means by which all things are completed. As the self is completed, there is human-heartedness as things are completed, there is wisdom. This is the virtue of one’s character, and the Way of joining the internal and external. Thus, when we use this, everything is correct.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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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.
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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A samurai will use a toothpick even though he has not eaten. Inside the skin of a dog, outside the hide of a tiger.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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By inconsistency and frivolity we stray from the Way and show ourselves to be beginners. In this we do much harm.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Even if one's head were to be suddenly cut off, he should be able to do one more action with certainty.
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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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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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An affected laugh shows lack of self-respect in a man and lewdness in a woman. It is carelessness to go about with one's hands inside the slits in the sides of his hakama.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo