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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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Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Age: 60 †
Born: 1659
Born: June 11
Died: 1719
Died: November 30
Bushi
Philosopher
Writer
Hizen Domain
War
Slain
Corpse
Resolved
Corpses
Facing
Battle
Enemy

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The basic meaning of etiquette is to be quick at both the beginning and end and tranquil in the middle.
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There are few people who will make mistakes with fire after having once been burned.
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A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death.
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Looking comparatively at the good things, you will see that they are not excluded from wisdom, humanity and bravery.
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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.
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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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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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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.
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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.
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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.
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Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort.
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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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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.
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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.
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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.
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When someone is giving you his opinion, you should receive it with deep gratitude even though it is worthless. If you don't, he will not tell you the things that he has seen and heard about you again.
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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.
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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.
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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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By being impatient, matters are damaged and great works cannot be done
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