Excerpts of the Day:

These Excerpts of the Day are Courtesy of: 

"Hagakure... The Book of the Samurai" by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

"To give a person one's opinion and correct his faults is an important thing. It is compassionate and comes first in matters of service. But the way of doing this is extremely difficult. To discover the good and bad points of a person is an easy thing, and to give an opinion concerning them is easy too. For the most part, people think that they are being kind by saying the things that others find distasteful or difficult to say. But if it is not received well, they think that there is nothing more to be done. This is completely worthless. It is the same by bringing shame to a person by slandering him. It is nothing more than getting it off one's chest. 

To give a person an opinion one must first judge well whether that person is of the disposition to receive it or not. One must come close with him and make sure that he continually trusts one's word. Approaching subjects that are dear to him, seek the best way to speak and to be well understood......" (page 27-28)

"When meeting calamities or difficult situations, it is not enough to simply say that one is not at all flustered. When meeting difficult situations, one should dash forward bravely and with joy. It is the crossing of a single barrier and is like the saying "the more water the higher the boat." (page 51)