Taiko Quotes

“Her only weapons were her tears.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“The summit is believed to be the object of the climb. But its true object—the joy of living—is not in the peak itself, but in the adversities encountered on the way up. There are valleys, cliffs, streams, precipices, and slides, and as he walks these steep paths, the climber may think he cannot go any farther, or even that dying would be better than going on. But then he resumes fighting the difficulties directly in front of him, and when he is finally able to turn and look back at what he has overcome, he finds he has truly experienced the joy of living while on life's very road.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“The greatest happiness of life was to stand at the difficult border between success and failure.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“It's no good to want to win still more when you have already won.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“It's interesting, isn't it? Being in the world.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“Anywhere there is life, there are eyes. And things, too, speak to those who have ears to hear.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“A day in a man’s life is constructed according to whether he accepts or rejects flashes of inspiration.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“A wise man who cultivates wisdom may sometimes drown in it.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“If a man wanted to put the entire universe in his breast, he couldn't do it with his chest stuck out.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“Take a good look at the times. It is inevitable that greedy men, who close their eyes and obstruct the tide of the times with their selfishness, will be burned up together with the fallen leaves.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“Is there anything that will not decay?”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“Everything in the world is good. But if you're not careful, even good things can turn against you.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“If you trust me enough to tell me a secret, I certainly promise to keep it. Please speak freely, on any subject.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“What if the bird will not sing?
Nobunaga answers, "Kill it!"
Hideyoshi answers, "Make it want to sing."
Ieyasu answers, "Wait."

This book, Taiko, is the story of the man who made the bird want to sing.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“Unlike other men, he was able to find pleasure in any job that he was given, but this was not simply because he was born poor. Rather, he saw the work at hand as a preparation for the next task. He was convinced that this was the way he would one day realize his ambitions.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“The battlefield is no place for jokes,”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“How to make his mother, whom he imagined to be the unhappiest person in the world, the happiest, was what drove him on.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa , Taiko

“A tea bowl that has no imperfections is said to be lacking in beauty,”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“There is no leisure in a life of indolence. That should be left to the birds and beasts. There is seclusion even in a crowd, Tranquillity in the streets of a town. The mountain clouds are free from worldly attachments, They come and go of themselves. How can the place to bury one’s bones Be limited to the green mountains?”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“To think that a man Has but fifty years to live under heaven. Surely this world Is nothing but a vain dream. Living but one life, Is there anything that does not decay?”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“The most important principle For victory in war Is having your soldiers Die gladly.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“Tokichiro replied very seriously, “I like both women and sake. Everything in the world is good. But if you’re not careful, even good things can turn against you.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“every province had its own character, and in each one there was both appearance and reality. Even a province that seemed weak on the surface could have hidden strengths. Conversely, provinces that looked strong—like Mino and Suruga—might be rotten from within.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“He was not ashamed of his way of life, because he did not humble himself like an animal. He worked for the world, and believed that heaven would give him what he needed.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“When the workers, whose only pleasure was sleeping, crawled into their beds, they slumbered like cattle.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“He’s all mouth, and sassy to boot. Just looking for a sunny place to pick the dirt from his navel,”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“A great man is not made simply by innate ability. Circumstances must give him the opportunity. These circumstances are often the malevolent conditions that surround a man and work on his character, almost as if they were trying to torture him. When his enemies have taken every form possible, both seen and unseen, and ally themselves to confront him with every hardship imaginable, he encounters the real test of greatness.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“Orang dengan pikiran berliku-liku tak pernah sungguh-sungguh mengenali lawannya.
Ia seperti pemburu yang mengejar rusa tanpa melihat gunung-gunung di sekelilingnya.”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko

“Who among all the provincial lords—besides Lord Asakura—is a man upon whom we could rely? Who is the most reliable military leader in the country today? Does such a man exist?” “He”
― Eiji Yoshikawa, Taiko