Showing category "Proverbs & Quotes" (Show all posts)

Sakujiro Yokoyama's Account of a Samurai Duel

The following quote was recorded by the early Western judoka E. J. Harrison in his book The Fighting Spirit of Japan (1913). It is an account from a fellow judoka, Sakujiro Yokoyama (pictured above) of a samurai duel that he witnessed as a child in Japan.

"I can carry my memory back to the days when all samurai wore the two swords and used them as well when necessity arose. When quite a boy I accidentally witnessed an exciting duel to the death between a ronin [an unattached samurai] and three...

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Queen Boudicca Quote

"I am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth. I am fighting as an ordinary person for my lost freedom...Consider how many of you are fighting, and why.
Then you will win this battle, or perish. That is what I, a woman, plan to do!  Let the men live in slavery if they will."

~ Queen Boudicca ~

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Polybius

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Between the Idea and the Reality

Between the idea and the reality, Between the motion and the act, Falls the Shadow!

~ T.S. Eliot ~

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Hope Smiles from the Threshold

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering it will be happier!” 

~ Alfred Lord Tennyson ~

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Happy New Year

Happy New Year
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A Bridge of Silver Wings

"A bridge of silver wings stretches from the dead ashes of an unforgiving nightmare to the jeweled vision of a life started anew."

~ Aberjhani ~
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An Argument Against the use of Violence

"You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for it".

~ Noam Chomsky ~

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Big Results

"Big results require big ambitions".

~ Heraclitus of Ephesus ~

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The Object of War

"The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his."

~ General George S Patton ~

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The Same River

"You cannot step into the same river twice".

~ Heraclitus of Ephesus ~

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Talk of Bulls

It is not the same to talk of bulls as to be in the bullring.

~ Spanish Proverb ~

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A Man's Fate

"A man's character is his fate"

~ Heraclitus of Ephesus ~
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Where Evil Lurks

Evil lurks where disappointment lodges.

~ George Foreman ~


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Drink Alcohol and Pursue Fun

“It is necessary to drink alcohol and pursue other fun human activities. The art of
someone who is too serious has no flavor.”

~ Choki Motobu ~
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Never Travel Faster Than Your Guardian Angel Can Fly

“Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly.”

~ Mother Teresa ~

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Whatever the Gods Offer

"Do not look upon this world with fear and loathing. Bravely face whatever the gods offer."

~ Morihei Ueshiba ~

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The Essence of Transformation

"Practice is the hardest part of learning, and training is the essence of transformation."

~ Ann Voskamp ~

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Regard Your Soldiers as Your Children.....

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys;
look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death".

~ Sun Tzu ~

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Muso Soseki Quote

"It's better to practice a little than talk a lot"

~ Muso Soseki (1275 – 1351) ~
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Col. Henry P. Crowe

"You'll never get a Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole…follow me!"

~ Marine Corps Col. Henry P. Crowe ~
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A Poem on King Harold Hardrade

"The Upland king was all the night
Speeding the arrows' deadly flight.
All in the dark his bow-string's twang
Was answered; for some white shield rang,
Or yelling shriek gave certain note
The shaft had pierced some ring-mail coat,
The foemen's shields and bulwarks bore
A Lapland arrow-scat or more".

(A medieval poem from the Nordic sagas collection Heimskringla
about the Viking King Harold Hardrade at the battle of Nissa in 1063).

Source
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The Pebble in your Shoe

 “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe.”

~Muhammad Ali ~
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To Succeed, Consult Three Old People

To succeed, consult three old people.

Chinese Proverb

Image – The Chinese deities of Happiness (Fu), Prosperity (Lu), and Longevity (Shou).

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I Will Always Speak for Peace

As an artist I come to sing, but as a citizen, I will always speak for peace, and no one can silence me in this.

~ Paul Robeson ~

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Reach the Limits of Virtue

"You should reach the limits of virtue, before you cross the border of death."

(Tyrtaeus, Spartan poet and military man).

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Go to Bed With a Dragon

"Better to sit all night than to go to bed with a dragon".

~ Zen Proverb ~
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A Poem by Tei Junsoku

No matter how you may excel in the art of te,
And in your scholastic endeavors,
Nothing is more important than your behavior
And your humanity as observed in daily life.

A poem by the seventeenth century Okinawan scholar Tei Junsoku
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Julius Caesar on Fear

It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking.

~ Julius Caesar ~
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My Heart Burns Like Fire...

"My heart burns like fire but my eyes are as cold as dead ashes".

~ Sayen Shaku ~

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What I do Playing...

“What I do playing, you don’t even do when you’re mad”

~ Mestre Pastinha ~

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When I Was a Young Man - Keinosuke Enoeda

"When I was a young man, many people blocked with their face".

~ Keinosuke Enoeda ~
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I Fear Not The Man...

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The Fight Between Life and Death

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I Do and I Understand

Original Image
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Wise People are Diligent

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Those Who Do Not Move

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The Place to Train

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A Sword's Honour

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We Walk on Hell

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Why we Make War

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Be Like Water

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The Fear of Death

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Chasing Rabbits

(Image - Women hunting rabbits with a ferret. From the Queen Mary Psalterc.1316)
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The Measure of Success

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Experience

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Sword Dance

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When to Fight

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A Ship in the Harbor

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The First and Noblest of all Victories

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Mother, what was war?

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Hidden Worries

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You Must Not Fight Too Often With One Enemy

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Go to Bed With a Dragon

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For Beasts to Fight

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Indistinguishable From Evil

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Dance Under Those Lights

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Soft vs. Hard

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Zen Proverb

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