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The Four Oaths: Never be late with respect to the way of the warrior be useful to the lord be respectful to your parents get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of man.

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
Four
Useful
Lord
Grief
War
Exist
Way
Late
Good
Beyond
Oaths
Never
Parents
Oath
Men
Respect
Respectful
Love
Parent
Warrior

More quotes by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

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All abilities come from one mind
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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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By bringing shame to a person, how could one expect to make him a better man?
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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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There are few people who will make mistakes with fire after having once been burned.
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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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A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.
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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A person who is discreet in speaking will be useful during the good times and will avoid punishment during the bad.
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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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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Singlemindedness is all-powerful.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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By being impatient, matters are damaged and great works cannot be done
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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Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort.
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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Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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When something out of the ordinary happens, it is ridiculous to say that it is a mystery or a portent of something to come... the mystery is created in (their) minds, and by waiting for disaster, it is from their very minds that it occurs.
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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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