It is a pleasure just to see a man, filled with hope, who seeks wisdom and advancement.
In unpleasant times one must contrive to divert oneself using one’s surroundings.
No matter what the situation, to anger others and cause unpleasantness is wholly without merit. We must strive to make both ourselves and others happy.
Happiness brings happiness, unhappiness draws unhappiness.
It is a sin to leave things undone. To cling to an unchangingly stagnant spiritual and physical state is truly reprehensible.
This world is in a constant state of flux; the cessation of change brings certain decay and collapse. Like water flowing smoothly and unceasingly, there is nothing more pleasant than to follow one’s own course without hesitation. This is the true way to live.
The most worthwhile means of living is simply to do as one pleases.
Mankind’s nature belongs to heaven and earth; perfection is the aim of the universe. Therefore, to do as one sees best is the true way to self-perfection. Though there are those who think that to do as one pleases is the root of all evil, this is a great mistake.
That which is not accepted by society, nor tolerated by the world, should never be desired by man. Though one may once have wished for such a thing, with time one comes to see the truth of the matter.
Having pondered deeply, I find this to be true: there is no greater happiness than to wholly devote oneself moment-by-moment to what one believes is one’s best.
Of course, one’s present best is not at all the same as one’s potential best, but this is only natural. Though the level of one’s best effort changes infinitely, if only one is true to one’s own present self, one will have no cause for regret.
If we come to dislike a task, it is often because we are being forced to do it. If this strain builds up, it is bound to result in our collapse.
In eight or nine cases out of ten our expectations fail to be met.
In view of this, one must be able to adjust to one’s changing circumstances. There is no one more difficult to deal with than the hidebound, narrow-minded, and inflexible man.
When own lives are in disorder, the entire world seems to be in a chaotic state.
We never receive undeserved punishment or reward.
No matter how much we devote ourselves to good acts while thinking ill of others, we can never achieve self-purification.
What we achieve is no more than what we think and what we do.
People have an irrepressible tendency towards materialistic thinking, and because we are restless and impatient as well, a great number of us inflict suffering upon our own hearts.
The Japanese, especially, who have been confined so long in this narrow island country, are impatient and do everything too hastily. If a job requires a little perseverance they are quickly daunted, and because they are not broad-minded enough to plan for the distant future they wind up in trouble. Jumping about in joy over a trivial success, and then wilting and becoming crestfallen over a minor failure—in this way we can never hope to accomplish truly great work. We must act according to our careful consideration of when we should work and when we should rest.
Because eighty or ninety percent of today’s people are neurotic, they spend twenty-six hours a day vainly fretting and fidgeting in their anxiety. And since these people worry themselves over the affairs of others and constantly clamor at others’ sides with their urgings and advice, the only work they manage to accomplish is neurotic as well.
Morally speaking, people are by no means wholly good, nor yet are they completely bad, either.
If the world could only be at peace, then people’s hearts would become tranquil, and those who needlessly cheat and steal would vanish. However, those who envy and distrust others would not completely disappear.
One must not feel in the slightest way the desire to be thought well of by others, nor wish to appear in a good light to one’s fellow men.
The one gallon container will hold a gallon, while the one pint container will hold but a pint.
In the words of a proverb, “Moderation is the best form of medicine.” If we can only command the restraint not to glut ourselves 100 percent—stopping instead at eighty percent—without question, this is true refinement.
Such restraint is essential in all things. However, it must not be forced, but rather must come naturally.
In everything we do, we must not feel in the slightest bit that our actions are virtuous or right.
Avoiding such feelings we must go about all things naturally and smoothly.
Unless we do things out of our own volition, we are not honestly doing them, but are subject to the manipulations of others.
In such cases we do not display our own true selves, and are really no better than puppets.
