Top 160 Miyamoto Musashi Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “Second is the way of the merchant. The wine maker obtains his ingredients and puts them to use to make his living. The way of the merchant is always to live by taking profit.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

102. “The bow is tactically strong at the commencement of battle, especially battles on a moor, as it is possible to shoot quickly among the spearmen.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

103. “When you appreciate the power of nature, knowing the rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

104. “When your opponent is hurrying recklessly, you must act contrarily and keep calm. You must not be influenced by the opponent.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

105. “If the enemy thinks of the mountains, attack like the sea; and if he thinks of the sea, attack like the mountains.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

106. “The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy’s useful actions but allow his useless actions.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

107. “Never depart from the way of martial arts.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

108. “Imitation is the surest form of flattery and failure. I am not interested with your talk about my ideas. I am more interested in your applying them to your life. If you do not, then you are essentially not in accord with your own mind.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

109. “Consider yourself lightly; consider the world deeply.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

110. “Even if a man has no natural ability, he can be a warrior.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

111. “Become acquainted with every art.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

112. “Whatever the Way, the master of strategy does not appear fast.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

113. “You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

114. “I dreamt of worldly success once.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

115. “They speak of “This Dojo” and “That Dojo”. They are looking for profit.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

116. “A bullet from a gun does not make a distinction between practice and combat. You are training to be one and the same way in your life.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

117. “Fourthly, the way of the artisan. The way of the carpenter is to become proficient in the use of his tools, first to lay his plans with true measure and then perform his work according to plan. Thus he passes through life.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

118. “The halberd is inferior to the spear on the battlefield. With the spear you can take the initiative, the halberd is defensive.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

119. “Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

120. “There is even rhythm in being empty.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

121. “Fixation is the way to death, fluidity is the way to life. This is something that should be well understood.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

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

— Miyamoto Musashi

123. “In strategy it is necessary to treat training as part of normal life with your spirit unchanging.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

124. “If you do not chase in directly toward the place where your opponents have gathered, you will not make progress. And, if you start thinking about the direction from which your opponents will come, your mind will be waiting and you will have the same result. Parry your opponents’ rhythm, know where they will crumble, and you will have the victory.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

125. “Pragmatic thinking is essential.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

126. “Though you give up your life, do not give up your honor.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

127. “What is essential is to suddenly make a move totally unexpected by the opponent, pick up on the advantage of fright, and seize the victory right then and there.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

128. “It is difficult to know yourself if you do not know others.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

129. “Efficiency and smooth progress, prudence in all matters, recognizing true courage, recognizing different levels of morale, instilling confidence, and realizing what can and cannot be reasonably expected – such are the matters on the mind of the master carpenter. The principle of martial arts is like this.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

130. “It is wrong to be inflexible.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

131. “Any man who wants to master the essence of my strategy must research diligently, training morning and evening. Thus can he polish his skill, become free from self, and realise extraordinary ability. He will come to possess miraculous power.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

132. “You must achieve the spirit of not allowing the enemy to attack a second time.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

133. “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.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

134. “Why would you want to appear as one thing and be another? If you are a warrior then you are a warrior and if you are not a warrior then you are not a warrior. The Way of the warrior is the Way of the warrior. To be a warrior, look like a warrior and stand like a warrior. Do not be false to yourself.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

135. “Becoming the opponent means you should put yourself in an opponent’s place and think from the opponent’s point of view.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

136. “The sword has to be more than a simple weapon; it has to be an answer to life’s questions.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

137. “Respect the gods and Buddhas, but do not depend on them.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

138. “There is a rhythm to everything, but particularly in the martial arts, if you do not train in its rhythm it is difficult to succeed.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

139. “The fact of the matter is that the world does not care about you or me, our hopes, our desires, or our dreams. And, the world of dreams, hopes, and desires that is constructed between our ears it is not necessarily a reflection of what is actually going on around us.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

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

— Miyamoto Musashi

141. “Aspire to be like Mt. Fuji, with such a broad and solid foundation that the strongest earthquake cannot move you, and so tall that the greatest enterprises of common men seem insignificant from your lofty perspective. With your mind as high as Mt Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things happening near to you.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

142. “In a battle of martial arts, victory is in knowing the rhythms of your various opponents, in using a rhythm your opponent will be unable to grasp, and in developing a rhythm of emptiness rather than one of wisdom.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

143. “Observe their attacking order, and go to meet first those who attack first.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

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

— Miyamoto Musashi

145. “When you and your opponent are fighting and nothing is going right, nor is there progress, be of a mind to throw off your former intention and start entirely anew. Take on another rhythm and see your way to victory. With Renewal, whenever you think that you and your opponent are just grating along, you should change your mind on the spot and take the victory by using another tactic.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

146. “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.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

147. “By knowing what exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void. 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 confusion.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

148. “Step by step walk the thousand-mile road. Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

149. “What is big is easy to perceive: what is small is difficult to perceive. 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.”

— Miyamoto Musashi

150. “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.”

— Miyamoto Musashi