How baffling it was that even the most cunning and clever people would frequently see only what they wanted to see, and would rarely look beyond the thinnest of facades. Or they would ignore reality, dismissing it as the facade. And then, when their whole world fell to pieces...they would tear their topknots or rend their clothes and bewail their karma, blaming gods or kami or luck or their lords or husbands or vassals-anything or anyone-but never themselves.

You never know . . . that's what makes life interesting.

Life and death are the same...Leave karma to karma.

It's a saying they have, that a man has a false heart in his mouth for the world to see, another in his breast to show to his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is never known to anyone except to himself alone, hidden only God knows where.

The scarcity of years does not necessitate lack of wisdom.

Guard yourself and your conscience no one else will and know that a bad decision at the right time can destroy you far more surely than any bullet!

You've commited murder just as much as Helene did. You killed a fly with a human head. She killed a human with a fly head.