Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Be a leader, not a superior.
If the cuckoo does not sing, kill it.
Youth and vision make an unbeatable combination.
The seeds of great victory lie in minor triumphs.
Fight only after creating conditions for victory.
Leaders can be wrong - but they can not be unclear.
Strong leaders understand that action cures indecision
What leader has no lessons to learn from his followers?
Little Bird if you don't sing for me I will make you sing
Arouse a bee and it will come at you with the force of a dragon.
Peace is achieved with rice and salt, not with katanas and arrows
Wars are to be won with swords and spears, not with rice and salt.
Zen has no secrets other than seriously thinking about life and death.
Sheer effort enables those with nothing to surpass those with privilege and position
Pessimism is a losing strategy. Leadership demands both confidence and optimism in abundance.
Go to the battlefield firmly confident of victory and you will come home with no wounds whatsoever.
Luck influences everything in life, but nothing beats setting goals and striving body and soul to achieve them.
Luck favors the bold. Leaders must fearlessly exploit the Secret of Decisiveness. Act boldly at critical moments.
Learning is to a man as the leaves and branches are to a tree, and it can be said that he should not be without it.
The best friend a man can have is reading and writing, and the bad ones to avoid are Go and chess and flute and pipe.
The possession of unnecessary implements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues and tends to foment uprisings.
The arts of peace and the arts of war are like two wheels of a cart which, lacking one, will have difficulty in standing.
Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish to survive in the battle and you will surely meet death.
Whether in commerce, administration, or on the battlefield, leaders who win understand the Secret of Victory: Act first to finish first.
Knowledge is not power, it is only potential. Applying that knowledge is power. Understanding why and when to apply that knowledge is wisdom!
A man with deep far-sightedness will survey both the beginning and the end of a situation and continually consider its every facet as important.
Greatness as a leader is measured in part by your willingness to accept daunting challenges. Achieving tough goals requires practicing the secret of commitment: Risk all to win all.
Do not think you need necessarily have as fine swords and clothing as your neighbor. As long as they are not disreputable, they will do. And if you borrow and so lose your independence, you will be despised.
Men with discrimination will be viewed as schemers; second, men with deep far-sightedness will be seen as cowards; and third, men with rough behaviour will be mistaken for real warriors. These are great errors.
The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their possession any swords, bows, spears, firearms or other types of arms. The possession of these elements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues, and tends to permit uprising.
...The final secret is that there is no secret. Devote yourself to your leader. Work hard. Be grateful. Act boldly. Some may deride such suggestions as commonplace, and they'd be right: They are common. But to see them successfully enacted in this world is rare indeed.
Compensation is counterintuitive: The more treasure you give away to those who serve well, the more treasure will return to you. But few people perceive this simple truth. Most try to keep as much as they can for themselves and give little away. That's why their purses refuse to fatten.
One who was born in the house of a warrior, regardless of his rank or class, first acquaints himself with a man of military feats and achievements in loyalty....Everyone knows that if a man doesn't hold filial piety toward his own parents he would also neglect his duties toward his lord. Such a neglect means a disloyalty toward humanity. Therefore such a man doesn't deserve to be called 'samurai'.
Go to bed before 8 p.m. Thieves generally break in between 12 and 2 a.m., so if you spend the evening in useless talk and go to bed late, you are likely to lose your valuables and your reputation as well. Save the firing and the light that will be wasted by staying up late and get up at four in the morning. Have a cold bath and say your prayers, and after you have dressed, give your orders for the day to your wife and children and retainers and so be ready to go on duty before 6 [a.m.]