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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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Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Age: 60 †
Born: 1659
Born: June 11
Died: 1719
Died: November 30
Bushi
Philosopher
Writer
Hizen Domain
Person
Matters
Matter
Fortune
Good
Fate
Life
Whether
War
Tell
Cannot
Persons
Vicissitudes

More quotes by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

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In the Kamigata area, they have a sort of tiered lunchbox they use for a single day when flower viewing. Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot. The end is important in all things.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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If one thinks only of winning, a sordid victory will be worse than a defeat. For the most part, it becomes a squalid defeat.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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When one is writing a letter, he should think that the recipient will make it into a hanging scroll.
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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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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One must know the so-called 'lesson of a downpour. A man, caught in a sudden rain en route, dashes along the road not to get wet or drenched. Once one takes it for granted that in rain he naturally gets wet, he can be in a tranquil frame of mind even when soaked to the skin. This lesson applies to everything.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.
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
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By being impatient, matters are damaged and great works cannot be done
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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The heart of a virtuous person has settled down and he does not rush about at things. A person of little merit is not at peace but walks about making trouble and is in conflict with all.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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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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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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When confronted with two alternatives, life and death, one is to choose death without hesitation.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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The way of the Samurai is found in death.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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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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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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As long as people overlook matters, then inferiors can, without any fear, lead an easy and peaceful life.
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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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