Miyamoto Musashi · 96 pages
Rating: (27.2K votes)
“there is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.”
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”
“You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain”
“Do nothing that is of no use”
“The ultimate aim of martial arts is not having to use them”
“If you wish to control others you must first control yourself”
“from one thing, know ten thousand things”
“You can only fight the way you practice”
“Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.”
“It is difficult to understand the universe if you only study one planet”
“Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.”
“Get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of Man.”
“Do not regret what you have done”
“The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy's cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him.”
“All man are the same except for their belief in their own selves, regardless of what others may think of them”
“If you do not control the enemy, the enemy will control you”
“Do not sleep under a roof. Carry no money or food. Go alone to places frightening to the common brand of men. Become a criminal of purpose. Be put in jail, and extricate yourself by your own wisdom.”
“You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you.”
“The only reason a warrior is alive is to fight, and the only reason a warrior fights is to win”
“To know ten thousand things, know one well”
“Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help”
“Whatever the Way, the master of strategy does not appear fast….Of course, slowness is bad. Really skillful people never get out of time, and are always deliberate, and never appear busy.”
“The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy's useful actions but allow his useless actions”
“You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.”
“The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.”
“To become the enemy, see yourself as the enemy of the enemy”
“Know your enemy, know his sword.”
“When you decide to attack, keep calm and dash in quickly, forestalling the enemy...attack with a feeling of constantly crushing the enemy, from first to last.”
“No man is invincible, and therefore no man can fully understand that which would make him invincible”
“It is difficult to realize the true Way just through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things.”
“Holmes laughed. "Watson insists that I am the dramatist in real life," said he. "Some touch of the artist wells up within me, and calls insistently for a well-staged performance. Surely our profession, Mr. Mac, would be a drab and sordid one if we did not sometimes set the scene so as to glorify our results. The blunt accusation, the brutal tap upon the shoulder - what can one make of such a denouement? But the quick inference, the subtle trap, the clever forecast of coming events, the triumphant vindication of bold theories - are these not the pride and the justification of our life's work? At the present moment you thrill with the glamour of the situation and the anticipation of the hunt. Where would be that thrill if I had been as definite as a timetable?”
“She could not trust herself to hope—but without hope, she realized, she had no reason to go on.”
“But it wasn’t. They both knew that. Darling wasn’t sure if it, or he, would ever be all right again. “Have you ever felt lost, Mari?” He folded his hands in front of him in a somber pose that was out of character for him. “Yes, I have. And I know that place of crazy where you asphyxiate every time reality crashes down and you see the nightmare that has become your life. The darkness that swallows you whole until you fear you’ll never see light again.” Darling paused by his side. “How did you find your way home?” “I didn’t.” Maris reached out and brushed a strand of Darling’s hair back from his mask. “My best friend found me wandering in the darkness and carried me back to the light.” Darling”
“So let’s make sure we’re clear on this: Obviously the people that managed to get to the roof knew their lives were in danger. They had the presence of mind to climb to a safe haven and even to arm themselves as best they could. So far so good, but then one of the group decided that they might need some beverages to stave off thirst, still good. That person, fearing for his life, went to the beer section, which again is admirable, everyone knows beer is the nectar of the gods. But then he grabs Keystone Light? Are you kidding me? I’d rather eat the can than drink the contents.”
“You can drive every stick I own whenever you want.”
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