James Clavell > Quotes

“Leave the problems of God to God and karma to karma. Today you’re here and nothing you can do will change that. Today you’re alive and here and honored, and blessed with good fortune. Look at this sunset, it’s beautiful, neh? This sunset exists. Tomorrow does not exist. There is only now. Please look. It is so beautiful and it will never happen ever again, never, not this sunset, never in all infinity.

Lose yourself in it, make yourself one with nature and do not worry about karma, yours, mine, or that of the village.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“Karma is the beginning of knowledge. Next is patience. Patience is very important. The strong are the patient ones, Anjin-san. patience means holding back your inclination to the seven emotions: hate, adoration, joy, anxiety, anger, grief, fear. If you don't give way to the seven, you're patient, then you'll soon understand all manner of things and be in harmony with Eternity.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“Always remember, child" her first teacher had impressed on her, "that to think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral you down into ever-increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that need disipline –training- is about. So train your mind to dwell on sweet perfumes, the touch of this silk, tender raindrops against the shoji, the curve of the flower arrangement, the tranquillity of dawn. Then, at length, you won't have to make such a great effort and you will be of value to yourself,…”
― james clavell, Shōgun

“It's a saying they have, that a man has a false heart in his mouth for the world to see, another in his breast to show to his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is never known to anyone except to himself alone, hidden only God knows where.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“How beautiful life is and how sad! How fleeting, with no past and no future, only a limitless now.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“Only by living at the edge of death can you understand the indescribable joy of life.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“.., by universal custom, your enemy is never more polite than when he is planning or has planned your destruction.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“Isn't it only through laughter that we become one with the gods and thus can endure life and can overcome all the horror and waste and suffering here on earth? Like tonight, watching all those brave men meet their fate here, on this shore, on this gentle night, through a karma ordained a thousand lifetimes ago, or perhaps even one.

Isn’t it only through laughter we can stay human?”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“The scarcity of years does not necessitate lack of wisdom.”
― James Clavell

“Love is a Christian word, Anjin-san. Love is a Christian thought, a Christian ideal. We have no word for 'love' as I understand you to mean it. Duty, loyalty, honor, respect, desire, those words and thoughts are what we have, all that we need.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“And Adam ruled, for he was the King. Until the day his will to be King deserted him. Then he died, food for a stronger. And the strongest was always the King, not by strength alone, but King by cunning and luck and strength together. Among the rats.”
― James Clavell, King Rat

“What can I do to help thee?" he asked.
"Believe there is a tomorrow.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“First the priests arrive. Then the conquistadores.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“There is no dignity for either the sufferer or the torturer”
― James Clavell, Shogun

“What are clouds, but an excuse for the sky? What is life, but an escape from death?”
― James Clavell

“It's always important to take time to study men -- important men. Friends and enemies.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“We have a saying that time has no single measure, that time can be like frost or lightning or a tear or siege or storm or sunset, or even like a rock.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“Guard yourself and your conscience no one else will and know that a bad decision at the right time can destroy you far more surely than any bullet!”
― James Clavell, King Rat

“Isn't man but a blossom taken by the wind, and only the mountains and the sea and the stars and this Land of the Gods real and everlasting?”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“How can a man be so brave and so stupid, so gentle and so cruel, so warming and so detestable -- all at the same time?”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“Perhaps that is why we love life so much, Anjin-san. You see, we have to. Death is part of our air and sea and earth. You should know, Anjin-san, in this Land of Tears, death is our heritage.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“To think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral down into ever increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that discipline and training is all about.”
― James Clavell

“Of what real value is a title? The power is the only important thing”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“He remembered the pride-filled glow that had swamped Gyoko's face and he wondered again at the bewildering gullibility of people. How baffling it was that even the most cunning and clever people would frequently see only what they wanted to see, and would rarely look beyond the thinnest of facades. Or they would ignore reality, dismissing it as the facade. And then, when their whole world fell to pieces and they were on their knees slitting their bellies or cutting their throats, or cast out into the freezing world, they would tear their topknots or rend their clothes and bewail their karma, blaming gods or kami or luck or their lords or husbands or vassals -- anything or anything -- but never themselves.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“There are no buts, my son. True there are degrees of honor — but one man can have only one code. Do what you like. It's your choice. Some things a man must decide for himself. Sometimes you have to adapt to circumstances. But for the love of God guard yourself and your conscience — no one else will — and know that a bad decision at the right time can destroy you far more surely than any bullet!”
― James Clavell, King Rat

“If you're a sailor, best not know how to swim. Swimming only prolongs the inevitable—if the sea wants you and your time has come.”
― James Clavell, Tai-Pan

“The law may upset reason but reason may never upset the law, or our whole society will shred like an old tatami. The law may be used to confound reason, reason must certainly not be used to overthrow the law.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“Always remember, child... that to think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral you down into ever increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one onf the things that discipline - training - is about.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“You're a cruel, cold-gutted, heartless bastard but you've got majesty, no doubt about that.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun

“A man’s fate is a man’s fate and life is but an illusion.”
― James Clavell, Shōgun, Volume 1