Eiji Yoshikawa Quotes
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Sincerity, even if it speaks with a stutter, will sound eloquent when inspired.
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The truth of the scholar, alone in his study, does not always accord with what the world at large considers to be true.
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Every act is an expression of one's self.
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Fighting isn't all there is to the Art of War. The men who think that way, and are satisfied to have food to eat and a place to sleep, are mere vagabonds. A serious student is much more concerned with training his mind and disciplining his spirit than with developing martial skills.
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Don't yield! Keep up your courage! The same sun looks down on all of us!
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The line between life and death is not thicker than an eyelid.
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It is easy to crush an enemy outside oneself but impossible to defeat an enemy within.
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It's no good to want to win still more when you have already won.
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Enemies were teachers in disguise.
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The world is a stone wall ... and they have put the stones so close together that there is not a single crack through which one may enter.
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Monks transgress the Laws of the Buddha, stir up the common people, store wealth and weapons, and spread rumors; under the guise of religion, they are nothing more than self-serving agitators.
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It does happen, of course, that the priesthood has been on bad terms with womankind for some three thousand years. You see, Buddhism teaches that women are evil. Fiends. Messengers of hell. I've spent years immersed in the scriptures, so it's no accident that you and I fight all the time.
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I want to lead an important life. I want to do it because I was born a human being.
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To Kiyomori each stall, each soul here seemed borne under by the crushing weight of the world; everyone here was a pitiful weed, trodden underfoot -- a conglomeration of human lives putting down roots in this slime, living and letting live in the struggle to survive; and he was stirred by the fearful and magnificent courage communicated by the scene.
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I want to dedicate myself to training and discipline. I want to spend every moment of every day working to improve myself.
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Think what you like. There are people who die by remaining alive and others who gain life by dying.
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It's interesting, isn't it? Being in the world.
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it is easy to surpass a predecessor, but difficult to avoid being surpassed by a successor.
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I wouldn't say Musashi is ordinary. But he is. That's what's extraordinary about him. He is not content to rely on whatever natural gifts he may have. Knowing he is ordinary, he is constantly trying to improve himself. No one appreciates the agonizing effort he's had to make. Now that his years of training have yielded such spectacular results, everybody's talking about his 'God-given talent.' That's how men who don't try very hard comfort themselves.
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Great character is forged through hardships.
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The greatest happiness of life was to stand at the difficult border between success and failure.
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People tend to be put off by the idea of selling sex, but if you spend a winter's night with one of them and talk with her about her family and so on, you're likely to find she's just like any other woman.
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If a man wanted to put the entire universe in his breast, he couldn't do it with his chest stuck out.
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Not only must a warrior be strong with his bow, but he must have a heart full of pity for all living creatures.
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...you're going to find people from all over the country, everyone hungry for money and position. You won't make a name for yourself just doing what the next man does. You'll have to distinguish yourself in some way.
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Beyond the shadow of a doubt, food was more important than a woman's suffering.
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To the courtiers flushed with wine, life was pleasure, and pleasure life.
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A wise man who cultivates wisdom may sometimes drown in it.
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Oh, you crows! Feast away! What a spread! Soup straight from the eye sockets! And thick red sake! But don't have too much Or you'll surely get drunk.
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The bitter winds in February were sometimes called the First East Winds, but the longing for spring somehow made them seem more piercing.
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