Quotes from Yoritomo-Tashi

Unhappiness and misfortune attend those who are voluntarily feeble

Unhappiness and misfortune attend those who are voluntarily feeble. "Their defect deprived them of the joy derived from happy efforts. They will be the prey of duplicity and untruth. "They are the vanquished in life, and scarcely deserve the pity of the conqueror; for their defeat lacks grandeur, since it has never been aurioled by the majestic strength of conflict.

Common Sense is a science, whatever may be said; according to Yoritomo, it does not blossom naturally in the minds of men; it demands cultivation, and the art of reasoning is acquired like all the faculties which go to make up moral equilibrium.

That which is above all to be shunned," said the philosopher, "is the encroachment of discouragement, the result of repeated failures. "Rare are those who wish to admit their mistakes. "In the structure of the mind, inaccuracy brings a partial deviation from the truth, and it does not take long for this slight error to generalize itself, if not corrected by its natural reformer — common sense.

The gods of the past are considered simply as idols in our day and the virtues of the distant past would be, at present, moral defects which would prevent men from winning the battle of life, whose ideal is The Best for which all the faculties should strive.

Impulse, on the contrary, only admits instinct as its source of existence. It is the avowed enemy of common sense, which counsels the escape from exterior insinuations that one may concentrate, in order to listen to the voice which dictates to us the abstinence from doing anything until after making a complete analysis of the cause which agitates us.

Before discussing the advantages of conflict, he will instinctively resign himself to inertia. If, on the contrary, his temperament disposes him to anger, he will compromise an undertaking by a spontaneous violence, which patience and reflection would otherwise have made successful. It is possible also that a valiant soul is unable to obey a weak body, and that instinct, awakened by fear, leads one on to the impulsive desires of activity

Would one not say that these lines had been written yesterday ? More than ever our age of unrest makes us the prey of impulses, and to the majority of our contemporaries, the robe, half green and half yellow (by recalling to them the worship of common sense), will become a fetish, more precious than all the amulets with which superstition loves to adorn logic, or to incorporate fantastic outline in the classic setting of beautiful jewels.

Experience itself depends on memory, which permits us to recall facts and to draw our conclusions from them, on which facts reasoning is based.

Common sense," he continues, "takes good care not to assail violently those beliefs which tradition has transmuted into principles. "However, if direct criticism of those beliefs causes common sense to be regarded unfavorably, it will be welcomed with the greatest reserve and will maintain a certain prudence relative to this criticism, which will be equivalent to a proffered reproach.

Reasoning is the art of fixing the relativeness of things. "It is by means of reasoning that it is possible to differentiate events and to indicate to what category they belong. "It is the habit of reasoning to determine that which it is wise to undertake, thus permitting us to judge what should be set aside.

Of what benefit is wisdom resulting from experience if it can not preserve us from the unfortunate seduction of youth ? "Why should its beauty be unveiled only to those who can no longer profit by it?

What would be thought of one who prided himself on possessing bracelets when he had lost his two aims in war? "It is, therefore, necessary, not only to encourage young people to profit by lessons of wisdom and experience, but, still further, to indicate to them how they can accomplish the result of these lessons.

To those who insist that nothing is equivalent to personal experience, We shall renew our argument, begging them to meditate on the preceding lines, drawing their attention to the fact that a just opinion can only be formed when personal sentiment is excluded from the discussion.

Is it, then, necessary to have experienced pain in order to prevent or cure it? "The majority of physicians have never been killed by the disease they treat. "Does this fact prevent them from combatting disease victoriously?

Gracious divinities protect only wise people. " 'Now, I have acted like a fool. " 'It is, therefore, natural that they should turn away from me.

We may all possess wisdom if we are willing to be persuaded that the experience of others is as useful as our own.

He who is determined to acquire common sense will use the following argument: "Doubt is a conflict between two conclusions. "So long as it exists it is impossible to adopt either. "Serenity is unknown to those whom doubt attacks. "To obtain peace, it is necessary to become enlightened, "However, it is wise always to foresee the least happy issue and to prepare to support the consequences

Ambition and audacity show themselves also after having passed through thousands of difficulties and having overcome them all.

The desire for knowledge, like the thirst for wealth, increases by acquisition, but as Bishop Lee has told us, "Knowledge without common sense is folly; without method it is waste; without kindness it is fanaticism; without religion it is death." But, Dean Farrar added: "With common sense, it is wisdom; with method it is power; with charity beneficence; with religion it is virtue, life, and peace.

Enthusiasm is as brittle as crystal, but Common Sense is durable as brass.