My Commonplace Book

“All true communication, even between two people speaking the same language, requires translation,” Genji said. “In the ends, our hearts must hear what cannot be spoken.” – Takashi Matsuoka, Cloud of Sparrows

“Gods and Buddhas, ancestors and ghosts, demons and angels, none of them can live your life or die your death. Neither foreknowledge nor seeing into the minds of others will show you the way that is truly yours.

This much I have learned.

The rest is for you to discover.” – Takashi Matsuoka, Cloud of Sparrows

“From a strategic point of view, I must of course regret our loss in that battle. Defeat is never to be lightly accepted. However, I cannot help but feel that from the aesthetic point of view,there could not have been a more beautiful result.

The white of the lightly falling snow. The red of the spilling blood. Was there ever a white more white, or a red more red, colder snow, or warmer blood?” – Takashi Matsuoka, Cloud of Sparrows

“Words can damage. Silence can heal. Knowing when to speak and when not to speak is the wisdom of sages.

Knowledge can hinder. Ignorance can liberate. Knowing when to know and when not to know is the wisdom of prophets.

Unimpeded by words, silence, knowledge, or ignorance, a fluent blade cuts cleanly. This is the wisdom of a warrior.” – Takashi Matsuoka, Cloud of Sparrows

“Lack of fear is not the mark of courage. It is the mark of idiocy.” – Takashi Matsuoka, Cloud of Sparrows