Quotes & Sayings About Bushido

There is no greater solitude than that of the samurai unless it is that of the tiger in the jungle ... Perhaps ... — Jean-Pierre Melville

The warrior guided by the spirit serves humanity, the warrior without, serves the ego — Soke Behzad Ahmadi

The [articles of the Genva Convention] adopted by The International Committee drew upon...the codes of a warrior's honour...these codes vary from culture to culture and their common features are the oldest artifacts of human morality: from Christian chivalry... to the Japanese Bushido or way of the warrior... The codes acknowledged the moral paradox of battle: that those who fight ...bravely are bound [by]...mutual respect... — Michael Ignatieff

Did not Socrates, all the while he unflinchingly refused to concede one iota of loyalty to his daemon, obey with equal fidelity and equanimity the command of his earthly master, the State? His conscience he followed, alive; his country he served, dying. Alack the day when a state grows so powerful as to demand of its citizens the dictates of their consciences! — Inazo Nitobe

Bushido is all very well in its way, but it is no match for a 30-06. — Jeff Cooper

The Samurai lived by a code of honor, not unlike the code that you live by. It's called the Bushido. It was never written down; was always something the Samurai knew, and it was handed down from one warrior to another. One of the tenets of the code is about justice. Not the pounding of a gavel on the bench of some judge who's been appointed to pass judgment on people by some politician. No, malaka, this concept of justice is what you feel in your bones: to die when it is right and to strike when it is right. — Kenneth Eade

The best fighter is never angry. — Lao-Tzu

The Hand (Kara-Te) is the cutting edge of the Mind — Soke Behzad Ahmadi

Being a samurai is all about selfless service and if the lord abuses the servant, it is no longer a situation of service; it becomes the situation of a victim. It is never acceptable for a samurai to be a victim. It is never acceptable to allow a lord to abuse you or rob you of your dignity. In such a situation, it is acceptable to walk away. — Alexei Maxim Russell

A samurai chooses to serve a master and does it out of respect and love, not because they are forced. Service to them is not demeaning; service is an expression of their prowess and their pride; they serve because only they are strong enough to serve with such flawless perfection and such consummate ability. It is a source of pride to them. — Alexei Maxim Russell

I'm serious, baby. The Doors are the only western rock band that really gets the heart and soul of Japan. A samurai knows that he can die at any time. That's what makes life precious. And don't even talk to me about lame hippie whiners like John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater revival. Jim Morrison . . . samurai! John Fogerty . . . ham on rye! — Carol Storm

Bushido as an independent code of ethics may vanish, but its power will not perish from the earth; its schools of martial prowess or civic honor may be demolished, but its light and its glory will long survive their ruins. Like its symbolic flower, after it is blown to the four winds, it will still bless mankind with the perfume with which it will enrich life. — Inazo Nitobe

I look at the Samurai because they were the artists of their time. What I think struck me when I read Bushido is compassion. 'If there's no one there to help, go out and find someone to help.' That hit me, because I try to lead my life like that. — Tom Cruise

The Japanese had a very strong belief in Bushido, death before dishonour. They were fighting for their country; they were the aggressors in World War II. — Steven Spielberg

Blackthorne, beside the gates, was still turmoiled by his boundless joy at her reprieve and he remembered how his own will had been stretched that night of his near-seppuku, when he had had to get up as a man and walk home as a man unsupported, and became samurai. And he watched her, despising the need for this courage, yet understanding it, even honoring it. — James Clavell

When I was young I used to practice a martial art that was a mixture of karate, kung fu, Jujitsu, Yawara Kubotan, Aikido, Okinawan kobudo, Newaza, etc.; now I am just a theoretical samurai or a bushido scholar if you prefer. — William C. Brown

A kunoichi is married to her duty, and to death. — David Kudler

Bushido refers not only to martial rectitude but personal rectitude. We understand that in serving each other we serve our own interests.
In serving our world, our world serves us. Allowing us to live in harmony with it. — Rick Remender

Read Hearn, the most eloquent and truthful interpreter of the Japanese mind, and you see the working of that mind to be an example of the working of Bushido. — Inazo Nitobe

Karate is not about techniques and their execution, but about boldness, integrity and fight for justice and common good — Soke Behzad Ahmadi

A karate practitioner should possess two things : wicked hands, and Buddha's heart — Soke Behzad Ahmadi

Bushido. The sense of honor which cannot bear being looked down upon as an inferior power, - that was the strongest of motives. — Inazo Nitobe

My code of life and my personal bushido is honour, respect, loyalty, courage and surrender. — Rickson Gracie

Intelligence is the flower of discrimination. There are many examples of the flower blooming but not bearing fruit. Bushido is in being crazy to die. Fifty or more could not kill one such a man. — Nabeshima Naoshige

Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning. — Tsunetomo Yamamoto