Yamamoto Tsunetomo - Person Quotes

10 Sourced Quotes

View all Yamamoto Tsunetomo Quotes
Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it was somewhere else. No one seems to have noticed this fact. But grasping this firmly, one must pile experience upon experience. And once one has come to this understanding he will be a different person from that point on, though he may not always bare it in mind. When one understands this settling into single-mindedness well, his affairs will thin out.

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

Yamamoto Tsunetomo
By bringing shame to a person, how could one expect to make him a better man?

Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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
When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about going at it in a long roundabout way. One's heart may slacken, he may miss his chance, and by and large there will be no success. The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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
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
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
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
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