14 Quotes by Takuan Soho

If you would know a man’s good and evil points, you should know the underlings and retainers he loves and employs, and the friends with whom he mixes intimately. If the lord is not correct, none of his friends and retainers will be correct.

Sever the edge between before and after.

Zen is to have the heart and soul of a little child.

One is not likely to achieve understanding from the explanation of another.

One does not divine this by impressions or knowledge. What this means is that no matter how much you try to figure or calculate by means of impressions or knowledge, it will not prove the least bit useful. Therefore, separate yourself from the discrimination of figuring things out.

It is the very mind itself that leads the mind astray – of the mind, do not be mindless.

When this No-Mind has been well developed, the mind does not stop with one thing nor does it lack any one thing. It appears appropriately when facing a time of need.

If you follow the present-day world, you will turn your back on the Way; if you would not turn your back on the Way, do not follow the world.

The Buddha and all sentient beings are not two.