Quote

Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Age: 60 †
Born: 1659
Born: June 11
Died: 1719
Died: November 30
Bushi
Philosopher
Writer
Hizen Domain
Looks
Somewhere
Present
Though
Moment
Everyone
Moments
Slip
Else
Lets
Thought
Slips

More quotes by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Image
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
Image
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
Image
Even if one's head were to be suddenly cut off, he should be able to do one more action with certainty.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
Human life is truly a short affair. It is better to live doing the things that you like.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
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
Image
The way of the Samurai is found in death.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
A warrior should not say something fainthearted, even casually. He should set his mind to this beforehand. Even in trifling matters the depths of one's heart can be seen.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
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
Image
If you are slain in battle, you should be resolved to have your corpse facing the enemy.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
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
Image
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
Image
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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
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
Image
Singlemindedness is all-powerful.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
To give a person an opinion one must first judge well whether that person is of the disposition to receive it or not.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Image
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
Image
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