Yamamoto Tsunetomo Quotes on Nature
Yamamoto Tsunetomo was a Japanese samurai and philosopher of the early Edo period, a retainer of the Saga domain who, on the death of his lord in 1700, was forbidden by Tokugawa law from following him in death and instead retired to a hermitage to dictate the long oral memoir that became Hagakure, In the Shadow of the Leaves. This page collects quotes attributed to Yamamoto Tsunetomo on the topic of nature, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Yamamoto Tsunetomo:
“There is something to be learned from a rainstorm; if one has no umbrella, one is going to get wet, and that is that.”
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“According to their nature, there are both people who have quick intelligence, and those who must withdraw and take time to think things over.”
Wikiquote -
“The way of revenge lies in simply forcing one's way into a place and being cut down. There is no shame in this. By thinking that you must complete the job you will run out of time. By considering things like how many men the enemy has, time piles up; in the end you will give up. 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. You will finish the greater part of it.”
Wikiquote -
“It is natural that one cannot understand deep and hidden things. Those things that are easily understood are rather shallow.”
Hagakure(c. 1716)