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

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.

Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.

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

There is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all. This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way and never thinks of himself as having finished.

It is better to have some unhappiness while one is still young, for if a person does not experience some bitterness, his disposition will not settle down.

Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else.