top of page
Quotes by Soldier

"During 65 years, I have walked the path of duty and discipline... And today, looking back at that long path of service, my soldier's heart stirs and murmurs from deep within: Thank you. Thank you, my homeland."

"The causes of the China Incident were the exclusion and insult of Japan throughout China, the exclusion of Japanese goods, the persecution of Japanese residents in China, and the illegal violation of Japanese rights."

"Justice has nothing to do with victor nations and vanquished nations, but must be a moral standard that all the world's peoples can agree to. To seek this and to achieve it - that is true civilization."

"Time is everything; five minutes make the difference between victory and defeat."

"If I had to resign every time the Cabinet disagrees with me, I could not last as a Defense Minister one week."

"Execute every act of thy life as though it were thy last."

"It is a curious thing, but I have been right in everything I have done and said in my life."

"All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are."

"When reflecting upon it today, that the Pearl Harbor attack should have succeeded in achieving surprise seems a blessing from Heaven. It was clear that a great American fleet had been concentrated in Pearl Harbor, and we supposed that the state of alert would be very high."

"Better to fight for something than live for nothing."

"If I commit an error I do it without bad intention."

"Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other."
Now,

"The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more he can depend on their response."

"The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy."

"Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination."

"A jury of my countrymen, it is true, have found me guilty of the crime of which I stood indicted. For this I entertain not the slightest feeling of resentment towards them."

"War is the domain of physical exertion and suffering."

"Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain."

"Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood."

"Regarding the Panama Canal Treaty negotiations, they will find us standing up or dead, but never on our knees; NEVER!"
bottom of page