A man isn't tiny or giant enough to defeat anything.

The instant that the blade tore open his flesh, the bright disk of the sun soared up and exploded behind his eyelids.

Beauty is something that burns the hand when you touch it.

Is there not a sort of remorse that precedes sin? Was it remorse at the very fact that I existed?

a samurai is a total human being, whereas a man who is completely absorbed in his technical skill has degenerated into a ‘function’, one cog in a machine.

Pain, I came to feel, might well prove to be the sole proof of the persistence of consciousness within the flesh, the sole physical expression of consciousness. As my body acquired muscle, and in turn strength, there was gradually born within me a tendency towards the positive acceptance of pain, and my interest in physical suffering deepened.

Quite possibly, what I call happiness may coincide with what others call the moment of imminent danger