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

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
Everyone
Moments
Slip
Else
Lets
Thought
Slips
Looks
Somewhere
Present
Though
Moment

More quotes by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

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All abilities come from one mind
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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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If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that “All abilities come from one mind” sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment one can accomplish any feat.
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The deepest love is often hidden.
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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.
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When confronted with two alternatives, life and death, one is to choose death without hesitation.
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Light matters should be dealt with seriously. Serious matters should be dealt with lightly.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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Singlemindedness is all-powerful.
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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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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It is a principle of the art of war that one should simply lay down his life and strike. If one's opponent also does the same, it is a even match. Defeating one's opponent is then a matter of faith and destiny.
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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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Continue to spur a running horse.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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It is better not to become acquainted with men about whom you have formerly had doubts. No matter what you do, they will be people by whom you will be tripped up or taken in.
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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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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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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Sincerity does not only complete the self it is the means by which all things are completed. As the self is completed, there is human-heartedness as things are completed, there is wisdom. This is the virtue of one’s character, and the Way of joining the internal and external. Thus, when we use this, everything is correct.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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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.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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It is difficult for a fool's habits to change to selflessness.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo