Quote

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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Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Age: 60 †
Born: 1659
Born: June 11
Died: 1719
Died: November 30
Bushi
Philosopher
Writer
Hizen Domain
Show
War
Shows
Much
Frivolity
Way
Stray
Inconsistency
Beginners
Harm

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.
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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.
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It is difficult for a fool's habits to change to selflessness.
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Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.
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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.
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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.
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Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else.
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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.
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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.
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When one is writing a letter, he should think that the recipient will make it into a hanging scroll.
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Human life is truly a short affair. It is better to live doing the things that you like.
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Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness. Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase, Form is emptiness. That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the phrase, Emptiness is form. One should not think that these are two seperate things.
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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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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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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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It is better to have some unhappiness while one is still young, for if a person does not experience some bitterness, his disposition will not settle down.
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.
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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.
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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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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