Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else.
-
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
As everything in this world is but a sham, Death is the only sincerity.
-
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Deep within this valley
The light of spring
Comes late, so
‘Tis buried ‘neath the snow:
The bush-warbler’s song.
-
Sugawara no Michizane
In a roadside field stands
A leafless willow tree-
Spring will come, and then
The wonders of long ago,
Will all return.
-
Sugawara no Michizane
Do not be envious! For if we envy others, then they in turn will envy us. The evils of envy know no limit
-
Prince Shotoku
Let us control ourselves and not be resentful when others disagree with us, for all men have hearts and each heart has its own leanings. The right of others is our wrong, and our right is their wrong.
-
Prince Shotoku
The Ministers and officials of the state should make proper behavioUr their first principle.
-
Prince Shotoku
I’ve traveled
That dark path to the world
Which comes down from this mountain
Just to see you
One last time.
-
Ono no Komachi
Is this love reality
Or a dream?
I cannot know,
When both reality and dreams
Exist without truly existing
-
Ono no Komachi
The color of the flower has faded,
while I lost myself in
idle thought in this long rain
-
Ono no Komachi
What is it about this twilight hour? Even the sound of a barely perceptible breeze pierces the heart.
-
Ono no Komachi
