He who defends everything defends nothing.

Diplomacy without arms is like music without instruments.

Youth on horseback has passed. The world is at peace and white hairs multiply. With what remains of life that heaven permits, how can I not enjoy it?

-- The 'One-Eyed Dragon' of northern Japan who carved

People are the castle, people are the walls, people are the moat. Compassion makes allies; cruelty makes enemies.

-- The 'Tiger of Kai' who transformed his landlocked mountain domain into one of Sengoku Japan's most formidable military powers

I fight my enemies with swords, not with salt.

-- The 'Dragon of Echigo' — a Sengoku-era warlord whose devotion to righteous warfare and Buddhist faith made him Japan's most paradoxical military figure

Wisdom that comes only after hearing others' opinions is not true wisdom.

-- The peasant who became ruler of all Japan

Without first establishing internal governance, there can be no external campaigns.

-- The ruthlessly effective architect of modern Japan who built the Meiji state's institutions while his more charismatic peers took the glory

The Empire's fate depends on this battle. Let every man do his utmost duty.

-- The admiral who destroyed the Russian Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima