From a strategic point of view, I must of course regret our loss in that battle. Defeat is never to be lightly accepted. However, I cannot help but feel that from the aesthetic point of view,there could not have been a more beautiful result.
The white of the lightly falling snow. The red of the spilling blood. Was there ever a white more white, or a red more red, colder snow, or warmer blood?
Knowledge may hinder. Ignorance may liberate. Knowing when to know and when not to know, this is as important as a fluent blade.
Words can damage. Silence can heal. Knowing when to speak and when not to speak is the wisdom of sages.
Knowledge can hinder. Ignorance can liberate. Knowing when to know and when not to know is the wisdom of prophets.
Unimpeded by words, silence, knowledge, or ignorance, a fluent blade cuts cleanly. This is the wisdom of a warrior.
Lack of fear is not the mark of courage. It is the mark of idiocy.
He would die without fear, drenched in his own heart’s blood, in the embrace of a beautiful woman, and she would weep for him.
What samurai could hope for more?
The most fiendish of men, the most cowardly, none of them think of them as villains. They believe themselves to be heroes, accomplishing impossible tasks against overwhelming opposition.
They convince themselves of this by seeing only what they wish to see, robbing words of their message, forgetting the real and remembering the false. In this way, they are not so different from true heroes.
What is the difference?
True heroes are on our side.
Fiendish, cowardly, treacherous villains are the heroes of our enemies.
An excess of courage, in the wrong circumstances, in the wrong place, and at the wrong time, can have far worse consequences than cowardice.
Human beings always feel emotions, though by training, inclination, or circumstances, they cannot and do not always act upon them.