When one is writing a letter, he should think that the recipient will make it into a hanging scroll.

One should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths.

There is nothing we should be quite so grateful for as the last line of the poem that goes, 'When your own heart asks.

There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.

In the Kamigata area, they have a sort of tiered lunchbox they use for a single day when flower viewing. Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot. The end is important in all things.

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

If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that “All abilities come from one mind” sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment one can accomplish any feat.