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Light matters should be dealt with seriously. Serious matters should be dealt with lightly.

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
Lightly
Dealt
Seriously
Matters
Serious
Light
Matter

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By bringing shame to a person, how could one expect to make him a better man?
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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.
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A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.
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Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.
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Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.
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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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One should be wary of talking on end about such subjects as learning, morality or folklore in front of elders or people of rank. It is disagreeable to listen to.
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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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Go ahead and gamble a lie. A person who will not tell you seven lies within a hundred yards is useless as a man.
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When one is writing a letter, he should think that the recipient will make it into a hanging scroll.
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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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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.
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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.
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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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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.
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Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort.
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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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Looking comparatively at the good things, you will see that they are not excluded from wisdom, humanity and bravery.
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