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“All around, vastly and untidily, stretched the country for which he grieved. He was to give his life for it. But would that great country, with which he was prepared to remonstrate to the extent of destroying himself, take the slightest heed of his death? He did not know; and it did not matter. His was a battlefield without glory, a battlefield where none could display deeds of valor: it was the front line of the spirit.”
- Yukio Mishima, Patriotism
“Although one may judge the purity of an action by the action itself, Jōchō realizes that the purity of righteousness must be measured differently.
- Yukio Mishima, Mishima on Hagakure
“…the samurai ethic is a political science of the heart, designed to control such discouragement and fatigue in order to avoid showing them to others. It was thought more important to look healthy than to be healthy, and more important to seem bold and daring than to be so. This view of morality, since it is physiologically based on the special vanity peculiar to men, is perhaps the supreme male view of morality.”
- Yukio Mishima, Mishima on Hagakure
Comment: This is an especially frank portrayal of the traditional concept of honor.
“But what Hagakure has to say here about ideal human, or rather manly, beauty – ‘reverent yet stern, self collected’ – is still one kind of aesthetic for manly appearance. ‘Reverent’ requires a humility that inspires trust in others, while ’sternness’ hints at an air of austerity and aloofness. What is needed to reconcile and bind together these two opposite elements is a serene, unflappable calm.”
- Yukio Mishima, Mishima on Hagakure
“It is our common error to believe in the existence of heart or mind, conscience, thought, and abstract ideas, even when they are not directly revealed in conduct.”
“Cowardly words make the heart itself cowardly, and being regarded as a coward by others is the same as being a coward. The slightest flaw in word or deed causes the collapse of one’s philosophy of life. This can be a hard truth to bear.”
- Yukio Mishima, Mishima on Hagakure
“…a samurai is a total human being, whereas a man who is completely absorbed in his technical skill has degenerated into a ‘function’, one cog in a machine.”
“…a total person does not need a skill. He represents spirit, he represents action, and he represents the ideal principles on which his realm is founded.”
- Yukio Mishima, Mishima on Hagakure
