True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.

Fortune lies in heaven. Armor lies in the heart. Achievement lies in the legs.

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

This man might be the one to seize the realm.

-- Toyotomi Hideyoshi's chief strategist and the architect of his greatest victories

In war, a victory of sixty percent is the best. Total victory breeds complacency.

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

To achieve the objective, do not be choosy about methods.

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

I do not mind hardship — only let it be hardship that matters.

-- The radical samurai who created Japan's first modern militia and ignited the revolution that ended feudal rule

Making this uninteresting world interesting.

-- The radical samurai who created Japan's first modern militia and ignited the revolution that ended feudal rule