Quote:
Brian Northrup wrote:
I guess when i say some i mean the samurai. If you read Hagakure, or Bushido or some other classics on Japanese philosophy, they all seem to me to place a great emphasis on learning how to die in a dignified manner, with grace and courage.
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Yamamoto Tsunemoto, author of the Hagakure, who never raised his sword in anger: "I have found that Bushido (the Way of the Warrior) is in death."
Miyamoto Musashi, author of the Go Rin no Sho, who'd actually put his life on the line in combat: "Generally speaking, when people contemplate the heart of warrior (bushi) thought, they consider it no better than as a way in which being a warrior is simply in dying. But the way of dying is not limited to warriors alone. For even monks, women, farmers, and the classes below them, there is no distinction in their having a sense of duty, in knowing shame, and in being resolved in their own deaths. What is most basic in the Way of practicing the martial arts is overcoming your opponent in each and any event, whether in victory over a single opponent in a duel, or in victory in a fight with a number of men."