112 Best Samurai Quotes to Make You a Fearless Warrior

You’ve come to the correct site if you’re looking for Samurai quotes. In this article, we will share a large number of Samurai quotes with you. You must have heard of a Samurai sword, but how much do you know about the Samurai who used them?

What were the responsibilities of a Samurai? Were the Samurai endowed with any particular abilities? What type of rules and regulations did the Samurai have to follow? Continue reading through these Samurai quotes to find out the answers to these and other questions. ‎

From the 12th century until the 1870s, the Samurai were military aristocrats and officers in mediaeval and early-modern Japan. They were richly compensated for their services as daimyo defenders. You’ll also learn more about their history by reading the Samurai quotes we’ve compiled for you. ‎

Samurai were regarded in high respect and granted exceptional privileges such as the ability to wield two swords. The bushido code was created by the Samurai. This code guides the Samurai’s martial qualities, attitudes toward suffering, death, loyalty, and battle conduct. These Samurai sayings go deeply into some of their ideas.

Samurai use a variety of weapons, including arrows, daggers, and kunai, but their principal armament and emblem is their powerful blade, the Katana. The Samurai were premodern Japan’s combatants. They then formed the governing military elite, which rose to become the top-ranked communal class during the Edo Period. So, without further ado, let us walk you through these Japanese Samurai quotes. ‎

Best Samurai Quotes of All Time

Let us start by sharing with you some of the best Samurai quotes. These Samurai warrior quotes are about the Samurai way of life and the code by which they lived. Read these quotations and implement them to your life if you would like to become a courageous fighter. ‎

1. Sword and mind must be united. Technique by itself is insufficient, and spirit alone is not enough. –Yamada Jirokichi
2. As a samurai, I must strengthen my character; as a human being I must perfect my spirit. –Yamaoka Tesshu
3. The word Samurai itself is a synonym as they are the great ferocious aristocratic warriors in the history of the country. –Sreechinth C
4. Two of the most remarkable aspects of samurai culture are bushido, a strict philosophy which places absolute loyalty to the master above all else, and seppuku— ritual suicide, performed in preference to dishonor. –Tommy Ito
5. This is almost the most famous story The Last Samurai – Samurai story – in Japan. –Hiroyuki Sanada
6. When a warrior left the confines of a castle, he always wore two swords— the daito(long sword) and the shoto(short sword). By wearing the daito and shoto, therefore, a warrior not only demonstrated his resolution but also accepted responsibility for his actions and pledged to live his life in honor. –Fumon Tanaka
7. I choose to live by choice, not by chance. –Miyamoto Musashi
8. You can always die. It’s living that takes real courage. –Himura Kenshin
9. My mentality is that of a samurai. I would rather commit seppuku than fail. –Elon Musk
10. The samurais were very interested in Zen because they admired the tremendous precision that the Zen Masters had, their lack of fear and pain and their absolute lack of fear of death. –Frederick Lenz

Famous Samurai Quotes

Let us now take a look at some very famous Samurai quotes. These Samurai proverbs teach us that if you are not a warrior, you will struggle in life. As we all know, life is a struggle for those who are not the strongest. It’s not going to be easy. To withstand it all, you must have the physical and mental tenacity of a warrior. ‎

1. A samurai will use a toothpick even though he has not eaten. Inside the skin of a dog, outside the hide of a tiger. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
2. Being a samurai is all about selfless service and if the lord abuses the servant, it is no longer a situation of service; it becomes the situation of a victim. It is never acceptable for a samurai to be a victim. It is never acceptable to allow a lord to abuse you or rob you of your dignity. In such a situation, it is acceptable to walk away. –Alexei Maxim Russell
3. To a great extent, the story of a samurai has been the story of Japan during most of the past millennium, and it is surely premature to relegate the samurai tradition entirely to the past. –Stephen Turnbull
4. Growing a mustache was one of the disciplines of a samurai so that his head would not be thrown away upon his death. –Tommy Ito
5. Every samurai home had a soothing, artistically designed garden that served as a hideaway for thought and prayer. –Virginia Schomp
6. You can only fight the way you practice. –Miyamoto Musashi
7. Be a Samurai. Because you just never know what’s behind the freaking sky. –Laini Taylor
8. The Samurai lived by a code of honor, not unlike the code that you live by. It’s called the Bushido. It was never written down; was always something the Samurai knew, and it was handed down from one warrior to another. –Kenneth Eade
9. The sword was a very elegant weapon in the days of the Samurai. You had honor and chivalry much like the knights, and yet it was a gruesome and horrific weapon. –Dustin Diamond
10. I worshipped dead men for their strength, forgetting I was strong. –Vita Sackville-West

Humble Samurai Quotes

Here are some Bushido-related humble Samurai quotes. Bushido, or “warrior’s way,” is a rule of behavior that governs samurai philosophy in thinking, action, and manner of life. Although the philosophy has changed through time, the ideas are still employed today to guide people’s everyday lives and offer a point of reference concerning how we should perceive ourselves, the world around us, and our role within it.

1. The samurai is the first to suffer anxiety for human society, and he is the last to seek personal pleasure. –Morihei Ueshiba
2. A samurai was essentially a man of action. –Inazo Nitobe
3. In addition to its importance in informing us about Japanese behavior in general, the history of the samurai is enormously colorful and exciting. No one knows exactly when samurai first appeared in the province of Japan. –Stephen Turnbull
4. A child born into a samurai family was immersed in warrior culture from its first breath. During its birth a priest, or the baby’s father, pulled a drawstring so that the twanging sound might ward off evil spirits. The future samurai was presented with a small sword talisman to wear from infancy. –Tommy Ito
5. The samurai castle is the grandest example of the blending of beauty and practicality in the Japanese arts. –Virginia Schomp
6. If there isn’t discipline, how can there be a true realization of an ideal? –Miyamoto Musashi
7. No matter how much you hate or how much you suffer, you can’t bring the dead back to life. –Watsuki Nobuhiro
8. I have found that the Way of the samurai is death. This means that when you are compelled to choose between life and death, you must quickly choose death. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Inspirational Samurai Quotes

Samurai were extremely strong and feared from 1603 until 1867. They comprised the governing military elite, which rose to become the top social caste throughout the Edo era. So, whether you’re facing a physical or psychological battle, the Samurai inspirational quotes below will undoubtedly inspire you to be a genuine warrior. ‎

1. A samurai chooses to serve a master and does it out of respect and love, not because they are forced. Service to them is not demeaning; service is an expression of their prowess and their pride; they serve because only they are strong enough to serve with such flawless perfection and such consummate ability. It is a source of pride to them. –Alexei Maxim Russell
2. Once the will is resolved, one’s spirit is strengthened. Even a peasant’s will is hard to deny, but a samurai of resolute will can sway ten thou­sand men. –Yoshida Shoin
3. Despite their largely rustic origins, the samurai much admired the social brilliance and classical culture of the courtiers and sought eagerly to emulate their ways. –Stephen Turnbull
4. Samurai girls did not receive formal education, but they were expected to run their husband’s estate while they were away at war. –Tommy Ito
5. The samurai were warriors in medieval Japan. They were expert fighters, with an unsurpassed knowledge of martial arts. –Jim Ollhoff
6. One thousand days of lessons for discipline; ten thousand days of lessons for mastery. –Miyamoto Musashi
7. I dreamt of worldly success once. –Miyamoto Musashi
8. Ultimately, you must forget about technique. The further you progress, the fewer teachings there are. The Great Path is really NO PATH. –Morihei Ueshiba

Badass Samurai Quotes

Japanese swords are the most well-known weaponry connected with the Samurai. The Chokut, which had a flat blade, and the Tachi, which had a bent blade, were two of these swords. Here are some badass Samurai quotes regarding their fierce attitude and combat style.

1. Working on the samurai sword is very different because your body position has to be very still. It’s a much quieter way of fighting. –Lucy Liu
2. The increased influence of Zen Buddhism on the Samurai culture had a great hand in flourishing art forms. As the country has splintered into many inter-conflicting states, the demand of the warriors raised so was that of the Ninja warriors who experts in unconventional warfare were. –Sreechinth C.
3. Within a decade, the new samurai rulers had set Japan firmly on the course of modernization, and though they were obliged in the process to dissolve the feudal privileges of their own class, former samurai in fact became leaders in all areas of modern Japanese society. –Stephen Turnbull
4. Samurai were feudal lords who mostly ruled farmland. But as more and more people moved to larger cities, such as Tokyo, the samurai began to lose their influence and wealth. –Blake Hoena
5. The samurai swore an oath of loyalty to their leader, and would fight to the death to protect him or her. This oath made the samurai even more fearsome on the battlefield because the samurai were not afraid of death. –Jim Ollhoff
6. The path that leads to truth is littered with the bodies of the ignorant. –Miyamoto Musashi
7. A man who can’t uphold his beliefs is pathetic dead or alive – Hajime Saito. –Watsuki Nobuhiro
8. As everything in this world is but a sham, Death is the only sincerity. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
9. Calculating people are contemptable. The reason for this is that calculation deals with loss and gain, and the loss and gain mind never stops. Death is considered loss and life is considered gain. Thus, death is something that such a person does not care for, and he is contemptable. Furthermore, scholars and their like are men who with wit and speech hide their own true cowardice and greed. People often misjudge this. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Funny Samurai Quotes

Let us now take a look at some funny Samurai quotes. These amusing quotations also hold a number of beneficial and smart meanings for us to learn. These remarks shed light on the reality that today’s young guys are so cunning and satisfied of their worldly goods. People with cunning sentiments are deficient in their duties. They would have no self-respect if they do not perform their duties. ‎

1. The samurai always has to rise and move on, because new challenges will come. –Lyoto Machida
2. From a mere peasant, Toyotomi Hideyoshi rose to one of the three key men in restoring peace and unity in the country. Though was born out of the noble families of the traditional Samurai bloodline, his tactics and skills on and off the battlefield made him the ruler of major part of Japan. –Sreechinth C.
3. The story of the samurai warriors charts the rise and fall of the most skilled and courageous group of elite combatants the world has ever seen. –Tommy Ito
4. The word samurai translates to ‘those who served.’ The samurai grew in importance during Japan’s Heian Period (AD 794-1185). –Blake Hoena
5. The samurai no longer exist. But even today, they capture our imagination with their skill, their loyalty, and their fearlessness. –Jim Ollhoff
6. To win any battle, you must fight as if you are already dead. –Miyamoto Musashi’
7. In the Kamigata area, they have a sort of tiered lunchbox they use for a single day when flower viewing. Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot. The end is important in all things. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
8. Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Short Samurai Quotes

Let us now go through some short Samurai quotes and captions. These Samurai sword quotes highlight a Samurai warrior’s talents. A Samurai warrior is famed for his willingness to risk his life for what he believes in. Warriors never give up, no matter how difficult the struggle is or how fatigued they are. ‎

1. The sword has to be more than a simple weapon; it has to be an answer to life’s questions. –Miyamoto Musashi
2. Katana, the sword of Samurai too became an integral part of the warriors at that time. As the honor of the Samurai resided in his sword, the craftsmanship or making the perfect Katana grew as an art. –Sreechinth C
3. Although the samurai are well-known for their use of the sword, they began as skilled mountain archers, and used a variety of weapons, including longbows, spears, and firearms. –Tommy Ito
4. The size of a samurai’s house depended on his rank, but all shared the same basic design. –Virginia Schomp
5. The samurai code of honor affected every part of their lives. –Jim Ollhoff
6. No fear, no hesitation, no surprise, no doubt. –Miyamoto Musashi
7. There is no greater solitude than that of the samurai unless it is that of the tiger in the jungle… Perhaps… –Jean-Pierre Melville
8. A samurai should always be prepared for death – whether his own or someone else’s. –Stan Sakai
9. Dishonor is like a scar on a tree, which time, instead of effacing, only helps to enlarge.” Mencius. –Bushido
10. The moment you find the courage to give up your life for someone, would be the moment you understand love. –Himura Kenshin

Samurai Quotes on Love

Samurai culture is greatly idealized and it is evident from a lot of Samurai love quotes. We have taken the liberty of compiling for you a list of some of the most useful Samurai quotes on love that you will fall in love with.

1. Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love. –Morihei Ueshiba.
2. Get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of man. –Miyamoto Musashi
3. The true meaning of the samurai is one who serves and adheres to the power of love. –Morihei Ueshiba
4. 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. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
5. Beneath the instinct to fight there lurks a diviner instinct to love. –Bushido
6. The moment you find the courage to give up your life for someone, would be the moment you understand love.
7. This is the substance of the way of the samurai: if by setting one’s heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
8. A samurai chooses to serve a master and does it out of respect and love, not because they are forced. Service to them is not demeaning; service is an expression of their prowess and their pride; they serve because only they are strong enough to serve with such flawless perfection and such consummate ability. It is a source of pride to them. –Alexei Maxim Russell
9. The true meaning of the ‘samurai’ is one who serves and adheres to the power of love. –Morihei Ueshiba
10. Yesterday is day a dream, tomorrow is but a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day. –Sanskrit Proverb

Samurai Quotes about Life

Let us go through some Samurai quotes on life. We think that by reading and absorbing these Samurai life quotes, you will build a warrior attitude and learn to rise over setbacks, disappointments, and problems in life.

1. No matter how much you hate or how much you suffer, you can’t bring the dead back to life. –Watsuki Nobuhiro
2. Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
3. Rehearse your death every morning and night. Only when you constantly live as though already a corpse (jōjū shinimi) will you be able to find freedom in the martial Way, and fulfill your duties without fault throughout your life. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
4. It is the genius of life that demands of those who partake in it that they are not only the guardians of what was and is, but what will be. –Thomas Nō Kannon
5. Our blade is honed only on a single edge. Why? It is because with the dull edge against our flesh, the katana becomes our shield. This cannot happen with a two-edged sword, One day, in the midst of a melee, you may owe your life to the dull edge rather than the sharp one. Let this contrast remind you that attack and defense are one. –Takashi Matsuoka
6. Samurai are born to die. Death is not a curse to be avoided — but the natural end of all life. Death is not eternal…dishonor is. –Rick Remender
7. I look at the Samurai because they were the artists of their time. What I think struck me when I read Bushido is compassion. ‘If there’s no one there to help, go out and find someone to help.’ That hit me because I try to lead my life like that. –Tom Cruise
8. Samurai culture did exist really, for hundreds of years and the notion of people trying to create some sort of a moral code, the idea that there existed certain behaviors that could be celebrated and that could be operative in a life. –Edward Zwick
9. Bushidō is about experiencing life in every breath. Seeing life in the simplest of things. There is beauty and honor in that. –Renée Ahdie
10. This is the substance of the Way of the Samurai: if by setting one’s heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way. his whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Samurai Quotes on Death

Samurai places an emphasis on the concept of death saying that it is not to be feared. Since the Samurai are always at war they should always be prepared for death. This idea has been emphasized in the Samurai quotes on death below.

1. A samurai should always be prepared for death – whether his own or someone else’s. –Stan Sakai
2. Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish to survive in the battle and you will surely meet death. –Uesugi Kenshin
3. If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that “All abilities come from one mind” sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment one can accomplish any feat. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
4. Where life is more terrible than death, it is then the truest valor to dare to live. –Thomas Browne
5. Do not fear death. –Miyamoto Musashi
6. The way of the Samurai is found in death. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
7. Generally speaking, the way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death. –Miyamoto Musashi
8. Don’t fear death. Fear the un-lived life.
9. When in a fight to the death, one wants to employ all one’s weapons to the utmost. I must say that to die with one’s sword still sheathed is most regrettable. –Miyamoto Musashi
10. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one’s body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one’s master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Samurai Quotes on Honor and Strength

Let us now go through some of the Samurai quotes on honor and strength. Honor is a Samurai’s most powerful weapon. So, the minute you convince yourself you can’t do it, you’re doomed. The same may be said about his strength. A Samurai should assure himself that he will battle till the conclusion and triumph. ‎

1. The sense of honor which cannot bear being looked down upon as an inferior power—that was the strongest of motives. –Bushido
2. Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person. –Albert Einstein
3. The sword was a very elegant weapon in the days of the Samurai. You had honor and chivalry much like the knights, and yet it was a gruesome and horrific weapon. –Dustin Diamond
4. The no-mind not-thinks no-thoughts about no-things. –Gautama Buddha
5. A samurai must remain calm at all times even in the face of danger. –Chris Bradford
6. There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
7. Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance. –Sun Tzu
8. The dance of battle is always played to the same impatient rhythm. What begins in a surge of violent motion is always reduced to the perfectly still. –Sun Tzu
9. The uncomfort zone is very important for us… To feel uncomfortable is important to strengthen your spirit. Like the samurai says, if you feel comfortable you must search for the discomfort, don’t look only for the easy way. –Lyoto Machida

Samurai Quotes on Victory and Defeat

Failure is not an answer for the Samurai. They are continuously striving to win their conflicts, whether they are against the adversary or against themselves. This idea is evident from these Samurai quotes on victory and defeat.

1. Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price. –Sun Tzu
2. Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
3. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams.
4. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.
5. When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about going at it in a long roundabout way. One’s heart may slacken, he may miss his chance, and by and large there will be no success. The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
6. The sword was a very elegant weapon in the days of the samurai. You had honor and chivalry much like the knights, and yet it was a gruesome and horrific weapon. –Dustin Diamond
7. The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. –Sun Tzu
8. The person who practices an art is an artist, not a samurai, and one should have the intention of being called a samurai. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
9. What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy. –Sun Tzu
10. If you learn to lead your life strategically and strongly, you can overcome the opposition. But running away, you never overcome anything. The pathway to enlightenment is for the warrior, the samurai. –Frederick Lenz

Final Thoughts on Samurai Quotes

Thank you for reading the Samurai quotes we provided. We hope that reading these Samurai sayings has taught you a lot about the Samurai. They weren’t always known as Samurai. The males were historically referred to as bushi, which translates to “warriors” in Japanese. By the end of the middle ages, samurai had become synonymous with the word bushi, and that is why they are most generally referred to as Samurai today.

The Samurai’s behavior was controlled by the Bushido code. It is still utilized in martial arts today and serves as a good life code. The Bushido has 8 codes: fairness, bravery, kindness, civility, integrity, honor, allegiance, and self-control. This code was followed by the Samurai in their daily lives, not simply in the battlefield. This code is mentioned repeatedly in Japanese Samurai quotes.

Do you have any further fantastic Samurai quotes or sayings to share? Please leave them in the comments section below.