Yamamoto Tsunetomo Quotes on Death
Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure made the contemplation of death the foundation of the samurai's way of life, and the quotes gathered here state that teaching directly. Its central and most famous principle is that the Way of the samurai is found in death: when forced to choose between life and death, the warrior should quickly choose death, resolving to see things through without concern for success or failure. Tsunetomo recommends that meditation on inevitable death be performed daily, so that the awareness of mortality shapes every action. In a world he regarded as fundamentally a sham, he held that death is the only sincerity. Dictated in retirement and drawn from the Hagakure, these passages fuse Zen mindfulness and Confucian seriousness into one of the founding texts of bushido.
Quotes
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Attributed to Yamamoto Tsunetomo:
“The way of the samurai is found in death.”
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“Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily.”
Hagakure -
“Commentary on the tale of The Forty-Seven Samurai (or the "Forty-seven Ronin ", or Akō Rōshi , the Akō "vendetta"), emphasizing his view that Bushido demands prompt action, and not delay, or concern about success and failure. Variant: "What if, nine months after Asano's death, Kira had died of an illness?”
Concerning the night assault of Lord Asano's ronin, the fact that they did not commit seppuku at the Sengakuji was an error, for there was a long delay between the time their lord was struck down and the time when they struck down the enemy. If Lord Kira had died of illness within that period, it would have been extremely regrettable. -
“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.”
Hagakure(c. 1716) -
“The supreme style of love is unknown love. If the affection is known by the beloved, that love is snob. If you sacrifice your life for the beloved, and she recognises your love after you die, your soul would be appraised.”
Hagakure(c. 1716) -
“By the Way of the warrior is meant death. The Way of the warrior is death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. It means nothing more than this. It means to see things through, being resolved.”
Hagakure(c. 1716) -
“As everything in this world is but a sham, Death is the only sincerity.”
Hagakure(c. 1716) -
“I have found the essence of Bushido: to die!”
Hagakure(c. 1716)