Echoes

God has given to man no sharper spur to victory than contempt of death.

Happy is the man who hath the hour of his death always before his eyes, and daily prepareth himself to die.

He who should teach men to die would at the same time teach them to live.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

I have heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck.

Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one's master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.

The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.

My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, but love it.

Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.

Through endurance we conquer.

Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.

It is the part of cowardice, not of courage, to go and crouch in a hole under a massive tomb, to avoid the blows of fortune.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.

Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength.

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.

If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that "All abilities come from one mind" sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment one can accomplish any feat.

Cowards die many times before their deaths;The valiant never taste of death but once.

Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you're alive and able—be good.

Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.

Death is always and under all circumstances a tragedy, for if it is not, then it means that life itself has become one.