The Ronin Returns: A Matsuyama Kaze Mystery

My primary goal in my writing, however, is to tell an interesting story. I believe anything else that readers find in my work comes from the readers. As Robert Pirsig said, “The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.” (Из послесловия автора)

A frog in a well is ignorant of the great sea.

It was a maxim of Kaze’s that a foolish man can kill you just as dead as a wise man. It just took a little luck for the fool or a little carelessness from you. Kaze could not control luck, but he could try to eliminate carelessness.

Eventually, everyone must die. But it’s important to understand that we all have just one death. If that death must come before its time, you should do your best to make sure your death means something.

...to paraphrase the Mozart character in Amadeus, each book is exactly as long as it needs to be (из послесловия автора)

Kaze-san, you are extremely rare because you are a man who lives by his ideals. Every samurai says he does. However, the truth is that most men cannot meet the standards they set for themselves. You do.

No, but it is easy to be young and full of promise at anything. It takes work and ability to realize that promise. Potential is like the gold locked inside the hills of Sado Island. Hard work has to be expended to mine that potential source of wealth and power. Otherwise, the gold will remain in the rock. Human potential is like that gold.

If you look at a seed, it looks nothing like a flower or a cabbage, but inside the seed is everything it needs to develop into its final form. For that to happen, you must develop and nurture the seed, planting it in proper soil, assuring it gets water, and trying to make it the best flower or the best cabbage possible. It is impossible, however, for a cabbage seed to turn into a flower.

Quick thinking is a virtue, but deep thinking is a blessing. It’s best to have both, but if you have to choose but one, then deep thinking is probably the best one to have.