Miyamoto Musashi Quotes

Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer, artist, and rōnin (1584–1645)

Miyamoto Musashi 宮本武蔵 (c. 1584 – 13 June 1645) was a famous Japanese swordsman, believed to have been one of the most skilled swordsmen in history. He founded the Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu, or Nito Ryu style of swordsmanship and wrote Go Rin No Sho (The Book of Five Rings) a classic work on strategy, tactics, and philosophy.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pen Names: 新免玄信 • 宮本二天

Alternative Names: Niten • Miyamoto Musashi Niten • Miyamoto Niten • Musashi • Takemura Musashi • Shinmen Takezō • Musashi Masana • Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu • Shimmen Musashi • Musachi • Musashi Miyamoto • Miyamoto Mushashi

From Wikidata (CC0)

In single combat you must not fix the eyes on the details. As I said before, if you fix your eyes on details and neglect important things, your spirit will become bewildered, and victory will escape you.

Everything can collapse. Houses, bodies, and enemies collapse when their rhythm becomes deranged.

The heart of Stepping on the Sword, something used principally in the martial arts, is that even with bows and firearms, you must act quickly while they are being discharged: if you charge quickly, it will be difficult to notch another arrow to a bow or discharge a firearm. In all things, when your opponent sets up a tactic, respond to it immediately according to its own principles and, stepping on his actions, defeat him...This is, therefore, the mind of taking the initiative in everything. It does not mean attacking at the same time as your opponent. Stepping on the Sword is taking your action immediately upon your opponent's action.

To win any battle, you must fight as if you are already dead.

People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This is not the true void. It is bewilderment.

You should not have a favorite weapon. To become over-familiar with one weapon is as much a fault as not knowing it sufficiently well.

Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is. And you must bend to its power or live a lie.

Pensando pausadamente, comprendiendo que es obligación de los guerreros practicar esta ciencia, decidid que hoy venceréis el yo del día anterior, y que mañana ganaréis a aquellos que tienen menos capacidad, y posteriormente venceréis a aquellos que tienen más capacidad.

Whenever opponents try to attack you, let them go ahead and do anything that is useless, while preventing them from doing anything useful. This is essential to military science

Both in fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm.

In my school, no consideration is given to anything unreasonable; the heart of the matter is to use the power of the knowledge of martial arts to gain victory any way you can.

"Being like a rock wall" is when a master of martial arts suddenly becomes like a rock wall, inaccessible to anything at all, immovable.

It is wrong to be inflexible.

In short, it is difficult for large numbers of men to change position, so their movements can be easily predicted. An individual can easily change his mind, so his movements are difficult to predict. You must appreciate this. The essence of this book is that you must train day and night in order to make quick decisions.

1. Do not think dishonestly. 2. The Way is in training. 3. Become acquainted with every art. 4. Know the Ways of all professions. 5. Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters. 6. Develop intuitive judgement and understanding for everything. 7. Perceive those things which cannot be seen. 8. Pay attention even to trifles. 9. Do nothing which is of no use.