The Four Oaths: Never be late with respect to the way of the warrior; be useful to the lord; be respectful to your parents; get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of man.

A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.

To give a person an opinion one must first judge well whether that person is of the disposition to receive it or not.

Human life is truly a short affair. It is better to live doing the things that you like.

Light matters should be dealt with seriously. Serious matters should be dealt with lightly.

The way of the Samurai is found in death.

Bushido is realised in the presence of death. In the case of having to choose between life and death you should choose death. There is no other reasoning.

In the eyes of mercy, no one should have hateful thoughts. Feel pity for the man who is even more at fault. The area and size of mercy is limitless.

Go ahead and gamble a lie. A person who will not tell you seven lies within a hundred yards is useless as a man.

The end is important in all things.

One should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths.

Shatter your pride in dust to vanish into the joy of longing and love.

Is there any success without an effort?

The friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.

It is worth nothing to be young without being beautiful, nor to be beautiful without being young.

A vampire victim. I'd never seen a lone kill. They were like potato chips; once a vamp tasted them, he couldn't stop at just one.

To be under occupation, to be under siege, is not a good inspiration for poetry.

I think that's how Chicago got started. A bunch of people in New York said, 'Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough. Let's go west.'

Making the world safe for hypocrisy.

I never apologized for anything in my life. The only thing I'm sorry about is putting a curse on Roger Ebert's colon. If a fat pig like Roger Ebert doesn't like my movie, then I'm sorry for him.

If anyone could look into my head See or feel the dread that has captured Me or see within this sad, unhappy brain They would only turn away Turn away.