Tokugawa Quotes & Sayings

Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

Remember, slow and steady wins the race. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

Find fault with thyself rather than with others. — Tokugawa Iehiro

Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

Give the peasants neither life nor death. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

Patience is the key to any battle. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

Let thy step be slow and steady, that thou stumble not. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

To come to know your enemy, first you must become his friend, and once you become his friend, all his defences come down. Then you can choose the most fitting method for his demise. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

Forbearance is the root of quietness and assurance forever. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

It's no good to want to win still more when you have already won. — Eiji Yoshikawa

Life means that I can live to see tomorrow. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

Little Bird if you do not sing for me, I will wait for you — Ieyasu Tokugawa

Patience means restraining one's inclinations. — Tokugawa Ieyasu

After victory, tighten the cords of your helmet. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

When ambitious desires arise in thy heart, recall the days of extremity thou has passed through. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

There are seven emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient. — Ieyasu Tokugawa

The shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu concluded that Europeans and Christianity posed a threat to the stability of the shogunate and Japan. (In retrospect, when one considers how European military intervention followed the arrival of apparently innocent traders and missionaries in China, India, and many other countries, the threat foreseen by Ieyasu was real.) — Jared Diamond

The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience. Patience means restraining one's inclinations. There are seven emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient. I am not as strong as I might be, but I have long known and practiced patience. And if my descendants wish to be as I am, they must study patience. — Tokugawa Iehiro