Top 90 Tsunetomo Yamamoto Quotes: Famous Quotes & Sayings About Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#1. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death.

#2. It is spiritless to think that you cannot attain to that which you have seen and heard the masters attain. The masters are men. You are also a man. If you think that you will be inferior in doing something, you will be on that road very soon.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#3. It is said that one should not hesitate to correct himself when he has made a mistake. If he corrects himself without the least bit of delay, his mistakes will disappear.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#4. Respect, Honesty, Courage, Rectitude, Loyalty, Honour, Benevolence

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#5. Go ahead and gamble a lie. A person who will not tell you seven lies within a hundred yards is useless as a man.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#6. 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

#7. 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

#8. An affected laugh shows lack of self-respect in a man and lewdness in a woman. It is carelessness to go about with one's hands inside the slits in the sides of his hakama.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#9. 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

#10. 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.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#11. When one is writing a letter, he should think that the recipient will make it into a hanging scroll.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#12. It is a wretched thing that the young men of today are so contriving and so proud of their material posessions. Men with contriving hearts are lacking in duty. Lacking in duty, they will have no self-respect.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#13. A person who is discreet in speaking will be useful during the good times and will avoid punishment during the bad.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#14. Continue to spur a running horse.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

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

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#16. 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

#17. There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#18. Personally, I like to sleep. And I intend to appropriately confine myself more and more to my living quarters and pass my life away sleeping.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#19. 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.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#20. Looking comparatively at the good things, you will see that they are not excluded from wisdom, humanity and bravery.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#21. 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

#22. When meeting difficult situations, one should dash forward bravely and with joy.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#23. As long as people overlook matters, then inferiors can, without any fear, lead an easy and peaceful life.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#24. 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.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#25. Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#26. As everything in this world is but a sham. Death is the only sincerity.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#27. 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

#28. 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.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#29. If a retainer will just think about what he is to do for the day at hand, he will be able to do anything. If it is a single day's work, one should be able to put up with it. Tomorrow, too is but a single day.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#30. One should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#31. Whether people be of high or low birth, rich or poor, old or young, enlightened or confused, they are all alike in that they will one day die.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#32. 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

#33. 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

#34. Do not rely on following the degree of understanding that you have discovered, but simply think, This is not enough.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#35. 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.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#36. 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.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#37. 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.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#38. Singlemindedness is all-powerful.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#39. 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

#40. Death seems to be a long way off. Is this not shallow thinking? It is worthless and is only a joke within a dream. It will not do to think in such a way and be negligent. Insofar as death is always at one's door, one should make sufficient effort and act quickly.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#41. Every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. There is a saying of the elders that goes, 'Step from under the eaves and you're a dead man. Leave the gate and the enemy is waiting.' This is not a matter of being careful. It is to consider oneself as dead beforehand.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#42. Even if one's head were to be suddenly cut off, he should be able to do one more action with certainty.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#43. In the highest level a man has the look of knowing nothing .

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#44. This is the substance of the Way of the Samurai: if by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way.
his whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#45. 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.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#46. It is difficult for a fool's habits to change to selflessness.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#47. By inconsistency and frivolity we stray from the Way and show ourselves to be beginners. In this we do much harm.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#48. Throughout your life advance daily, becoming more skillful than yesterday, more skillful than today. This is never-ending.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#49. If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#50. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day one should meditate on being carried away by surging waves, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#51. 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

#52. It is bad to carry even a good thing too far. Even concerning things such as Buddhism, Buddhist sermons, and moral lessons, talking too much will bring harm.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#53. 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

#54. Imitating another style is simply a sham.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#55. There is nothing we should be quite so grateful for as the last line of the poem that goes, 'When your own heart asks.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#56. 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

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

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#58. By bringing shame to a person, how could one expect to make him a better man?

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#59. One should every day think over and make an effort to implant in his mind the saying, "At that time is right now." It is said that it is strange indeed that anyone is able to pass through life by one means or another in negligence.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#60. Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#61. 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.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#62. 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

#63. To give a person an opinion one must first judge well whether that person is of the disposition to receive it or not.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#64. A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#65. Victory and defeat are matters of the temporary force of circumstances. The way of avoiding shame is different. It is simply in death.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#66. Human life is truly a short affair. It is better to live doing the things that you like.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#67. Tether even a roasted chicken.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#68. If one does not get it into his head from the very beginning that the world is full of unseemly situations, for the most part his demeanour will be poor and he will not be believed by others.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#69. I know nothing about how to win over others. I know only the way know the way to win over myself.
attributed to the (master) swordsman Yagyu, who was a teacher (and samurai?) to the Shogun himself.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#70. No matter if the enemy has thousands of men, there is fulfillment in simply standing them off and being determined to cut them all down, starting from one end.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#71. To desire with one's very soul every second of every day to accomplish one's aim.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#72. If one has no earnest daily intention, does not consider what it is to be a warrior even in his dreams, and lives through the day idly, he can be said to be worthy of punishment.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#73. Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#74. The deepest love is often hidden.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

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

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#76. Matters of great concern should be treated lightly." Master Ittei commented, "Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#77. Not to borrow the strength of another, nor to rely on one's own strength; to cut off past and future thoughts, and not to live within the everyday mind ... then the Great Way is right before your eyes.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#78. 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.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#79. 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.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#80. All abilities come from one mind

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#81. 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

#82. Although this may be a most difficult thing, if one will do it, it can be done. There is nothing that one should suppose cannot be done.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#83. If you are unaware that the world is teeming with ineptitude from the beginning, you will develop a bitter countenance, and in turn others will eschew you.

Tsunetomo Yamamoto

#84. 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.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

#85. 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