From Hagakure: Book of the Samurai - Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Quote:
There are levels in the course of mastery throughout our life. At the lowest level of skill and ability, one thinks of himself and others as poor. He thinks this is because he has mastered only a little. Needless to say, a person at this level is not at all useful. At the middle level, one is still useless, but he can at least understand that he and others have mastered only a little At a high level, since a person has made something his own, he is proud of his accomplishment. And he is also glad of the praise of others. He grieves over the shortcomings of others. This kind of person is at least useful. At a higher level, one pretends to know nothing, yet others understand that he holds an upper hand.
The majority of people cannot get beyond this level. Beyond this higher level, there is one further step: the level of the trackless road. If you travel deeper into the trackless road, infinite secrets will finally appear. Then you can never see the end of the mastery. Then you truly realize how lacking you are. You have only to go ahead with your intention of mastery in mind. You go forward without pride and without humility. A great swordsman once said, "I know nothing about how to win over others. I only know the way to win over myself." Your life is something you build every day. You must convince yourself that you have surpassed yesterday. And tomorrow you must feel that you have surpassed today. In this way there is no end to your mastery.
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