When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about going at it in a long roundabout way. One's heart may slacken, he may miss his chance, and by and large there will be no success. The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong.

Tether even a roasted chicken.

A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death.

The basic meaning of etiquette is to be quick at both the beginning and end and tranquil in the middle.

When confronted with two alternatives, life and death, one is to choose death without hesitation.

Human life is truly a short affair. It is better to live doing the things that you like.

It is a wretched thing that the young men of today are so contriving and so proud of their material posessions. Men with contriving hearts are lacking in duty. Lacking in duty, they will have no self-respect.