Yamamoto Tsunetomo And Quotations

When confronted with two alternatives, life and death, one is to choose death without hesitation.

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.

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.

Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning.

The basic meaning of etiquette is to be quick at both the beginning and end and tranquil in the middle.

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.