Resonating with the Heart! Famous Quotes Left by Great Japanese Figures (1–10)
No success for those without dreams.Yoshida Shōin
Here is a famous quote by Yoshida Shōin, who founded the Shōka Sonjuku school in the late Edo period: “There is no success for those without dreams.” Do you have goals or dreams? If you want to achieve success in the future, start by having a dream.
It’s not that you cannot succeed without a dream, but this quote tells us that successful people do have dreams.
Merely having a dream isn’t enough—you must hold a clear ideal, plan your path to success, and put it into action.
If you don’t have clear goals or dreams right now, why not pause for a moment and think about them?
I was born to accomplish something in this world.Hideyo Noguchi
They say that contributing to others is also important for humans to become happy.
You can see this in the famous words of the medical scientist Hideyo Noguchi: “I was born to accomplish something in this world.” By setting goals, dreams, and a mission, and working hard toward them, we can feel happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment.
It may also lead to enhancing the value of our lives.
By understanding what we were born to do in this world and acting with purpose, we can stay true to ourselves, do what we love, and contribute to society.
It’s important to have a sense of mission and strive toward our goals.
Effort is always rewarded. If there is effort that isn’t rewarded, then it can’t yet be called effort.Sadaharu Oh
Here’s a famous quote from Sadaharu Oh, who hit the most home runs in Japanese professional baseball: “Effort is always rewarded.
If there is effort that is not rewarded, then it cannot yet be called effort.” Being told that striving toward your goals will surely pay off really fires you up, doesn’t it? Of course, on the way to being rewarded, you’ll run into obstacles and experience failures.
You might feel down when your goals are hard to achieve.
But if your efforts aren’t paying off, it simply means you haven’t put in enough yet.
Perhaps you’re lacking in initiative or analytical ability.
It seems that thinking things through and persevering consistently are what you need to succeed.
If you try, you can succeed; if you do not try, nothing will be accomplished. What does not come to pass is simply what people have not attempted.Uesugi Yōzan
Harunori Uesugi, the 9th lord of the Yonezawa Domain in Dewa Province, is known as an exemplary ruler of the Edo period.
One of his famous sayings is: “If you do it, it will be done; if you do not, it will not be done, whatever the matter may be.
What does not get done is simply what people have not done.” It’s a phrase well suited to him, as he pursued financial reconstruction, frugality, and reforms in domain governance.
It is said that he left these words to his successor and his retainers.
You can sense a strong will—not “I can’t,” but “I will.” With this positive mindset, we should tackle everything we do.
It’s enough if you have the willingness to learn from your environment.Umeko Tsuda
Umeko Tsuda, who founded Tsuda University and is regarded as a pioneer of women’s education, is also known for her famous words: “What matters is the will to learn, not the environment.” In recent years, we often hear the term “oyagacha,” which reflects the painful feelings of young people—that children cannot choose their parents or the circumstances they are born into.
Tsuda’s words about the attitude toward learning may serve as a beacon in such times.
Whatever environment you were born and raised in, what deserves to be judged is you as an individual.
Depending on the determination you hold and the effort you make, a path may open before you.
Trust in others, but trust yourself a hundred times more.Osamu Tezuka
I’d like to share a famous quote by manga artist Osamu Tezuka: “Trust others, but trust yourself a hundred times more.” We can’t live alone, can we? Even when moving toward our goals, there are times we need help from those around us.
By trusting others and walking alongside them, life often becomes richer and happier.
So how can we learn to trust others? The answer is to believe in yourself completely.
If you don’t trust yourself, it’s hard to trust anyone else.
And trusting others too much can mean handing yourself over to them.
Listen to your own feelings and try trusting them.
There really isn’t any shortcut. The straight, main path is the shortcut.Tamori
Tamori, a comedy entertainer who is also well known as a TV host and actor, is fond of the word “tekitō” (roughly, “easygoing” or “appropriate”), and he has many memorable quotes.
Here’s one I’d like to share.
It’s followed by the line, “The royal road down the middle is actually the shortcut.” In everyday life, we often end up choosing the easier path.
But in reality, that doesn’t always work out, and taking the easy way can lead to hardship later on.
From Tamori’s words, we learn to calmly keep moving straight ahead on the path right in front of us, no matter the situation.
He teaches us that this attitude is essential for living.
Unless the whole world becomes happy, individual happiness is impossible.Kenji Miyazawa
Kenji Miyazawa, a fairy-tale writer and poet best known for Night on the Galactic Railroad.
Many people may find this phrase puzzling.
You could say that the world is a collective of individuals.
If you think of it that way, you might feel that each person’s happiness is the world’s happiness, right? But what Miyazawa is trying to say is that we must not pursue personal gain at the expense of others—that we should live together, all of us.
Perhaps these words resonate all the more in today’s society, where disparities are growing.
Creation is the ability to invent a new future while using the past and present as its materials.Akiko Yosano
Akiko Yosano, the poet known for the poetry collection Midaregami and the poem Thou Shalt Not Die, also advocated that women should be socially and economically independent.
Perhaps it was precisely because she was such a person that these words emerged.
How do we use our past experiences and current know-how to create the future? It’s a saying that seems to question the very way we live.
Imagination is a power everyone possesses—that’s one way to understand it.
As long as we are alive, we want to think, challenge ourselves, and continue to grow.
