Eiji Yoshikawa

“How was Gengo to know, Saigyo reflected, that this unheroic existence imposed even greater torment than the icy lashings of the Nachi…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

The world is a stone wall ... and they have put the stones so close together that there is not a single…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“He used to say that a true rōnin did not seek fame or profit, did not curry favor with the powerful, did…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“A wanderer with no ideal, no sense of gratitude for his independence, is no more than a beggar! The difference between a…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“Lord Karasumaru considered it a grave mistake on the part of the gods to have made a man like himself a nobleman.…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“I can only bow to the will of the heaven, but not to the will of these men.”

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“People were born with two hands; why not use both of them? As it was, swordsmen fought with only one sword, and…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“If the talents I was born with are the right ones, I may someday achieve my goal. If not, I may go…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“kalau agama itu ajaran sehat, kita tak akan membutuhkan nabi-nabi untuk menyampaikannya kepada kita. -Takuan”

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“Fighting isn’t all there is to the Art of War. The men who think that way, and are satisfied to have food…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

The line between life and death is not thicker than an eyelid.

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“How to make his mother, whom he imagined to be the unhappiest person in the world, the happiest, was what drove him…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“Whether people were great or not, there was not much variety in their inner life experience. Any difference lay merely in how…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

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…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“Musashi wondered how many people there were who on this night could say: “I was right. I did what I should have…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

The greatest happiness of life was to stand at the difficult border between success and failure.

— Eiji Yoshikawa

Think what you like. There are people who die by remaining alive and others who gain life by dying.

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“Anywhere there is life, there are eyes. And things, too, speak to those who have ears to hear.”

— Eiji Yoshikawa

The world is always full of the sound of waves. The little fishes, abandoning themselves to the waves, dance and sing and…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

A wise man who cultivates wisdom may sometimes drown in it.

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“Die? Then so be it.”

— Eiji Yoshikawa

People tend to be put off by the idea of selling sex, but if you spend a winter's night with one of…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

“In the ashes on the hearth Saigyo traced and retraced the word, "pity." He had yet to learn to accept life with…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

Not only must a warrior be strong with his bow, but he must have a heart full of pity for all living…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

See, see how the sun has moved onward while we talked. Nothing can stop it in its course. Prayers cannot halt the…

— Eiji Yoshikawa