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The Samurai's Garden QUOTES

The Samurai's Garden QUOTES

1 " Matsu gathered up what little was left of the food and wrapped it back up in the furoshiki. 'I followed you and the others down to the beach yesterday morning. I wondered if you might try to find your way to peace as she did.'
'I couldn't,' I began to cry, turning away in shame. Then Matsu leaned over close to my ear. He smelled of sweat and the earth as he whispered, 'It takes greater courage to live. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

2 " Sometimes you can’t let go of the past without facing it again. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

3 " When you're young, you can excuse many things, hoping they will strengthen with time. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

4 " Beauty exists where you least expect to find it. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

5 " It is not an act of bravery to try to save your own village. It is an instinct to protect what you possess. Bravery is when you step in to help when you have nothing to lose. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

6 " It takes greater courage to live. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

7 " The garden is a world filled with secrets. Slowly, I see more each day. The black pines twist and turn to form graceful shapes, while the moss is a carpet of green that invites you to sit by the pond. Even the stone lanterns, which dimly light the way at night, allow you to see only so much. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

8 " ...I learned that beauty exists where you least expect to find it. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

9 " The things you remember about a person when they're gone are funny. No two people will feel the same way, though usually it has to do with scent, or expression, the sound of a voice, an unusual gesture. For me, I can still see the colors of Keiko; the black of her hair against creamy pale skin, her dark blue kimono with white circles, the deep orange persimmons falling from the brown basket she carried. The ache in my heart grows larger every time I think of these colors, and how as each day passes they continue to fade from my eyes. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

10 " Sometimes the house is so quiet I feel like the only noise that fills my mind is what I've created myself. Remembered conversations come back to me as if my friends and family were right here in the room. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

11 " When the water boiled, Michiko poured it into the pot of green leaves and we both waited in the thick silence. I felt strangely calmed by this simple ritual I had seen my mother do many hundred times before. It was all that seemed to make sense in this place and I held on to it as if I were drowning. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

12 " Sometimes I felt like I would go insane not having the answers to such simple questions. Of course, it was always hardest during the night, then the darkness stole away any signs of hope. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

13 " Sometimes I felt like I would go insane not having the answers to such simple questions. Of course, it was always hardest during the night, when the darkness stole away any signs of hope. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

14 " Every so often I was overwhelmed by a phantom pain that cut through me like a knife. I was certain that if I looked down I would find blood all over, like the knife I once held in my hands, but it was all in my mind. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

15 " Please, Matsu-san,' I told him, not long after the house was completed. 'I don't wish to have any flowers.'
"Never once did he question me. I needed my life to be simple without any beauty to remind me of all I had lost. And though I had not told him that, Matsu must have seen it in my eyes. 'Don't worry, Sachi,' he said, 'there will be no flowers. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

16 " I wanted to say something back to him, and I knew deep down that he was right, though I didn't have the words yet. Until that disease chose me, I had lived a charmed life of grace and ease, while Matsu had always to work hard for what he desired. He has always known where beauty comes from. Later on, when the disease spread over the left side of my face, I tried to accept the burden placed on me, to tell myself that real beauty comes from deep within. But I'm afraid sometimes I reverted back to my spoiled ways. But, Stephen-san, can you imagine what it was like to watch your own face slowly transformed into a monster? Have you ever awakened in the morning from a series of nightmares, fearing what you might have turned into during the night? I will not lie to you and tell you that it was easy. There were times when I thought I could actually feel my skin shrinking, pulling against my bones and muscles, slowly suffocating me. Matsu comforted me as much as he could by having me work on the house, or in the garden, but no matter how much pleasure I found in them, they were still cold and inanimate. I longed for my past life. Matsu always knew that the peace of mine I needed could only be found within myself. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

17 " It was like a bad dream with only one saving grace: my family thought I was dead. I suddenly felt lighter, relieved of the burden that had been placed on me as a living person. Yet, there was still someone who knew I existed, which made me feel like a real person again, not a ghost roaming the earth. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

18 " life is not just from within, it extends all around you, whether you wish it to or not. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

19 " Only once have I had the courage to ask Matsu what he felt about his country's victories in China. He was in the kitchen reading a magazine, as his radio blared from his room. He looked up at me and simply said, "Japan is like a young woman who thinks too much of herself. She's bound to get herself into trouble. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden

20 " Matsu once told me the bridge represented the samurai’s difficult path from this world to the afterlife. When you reach the top of the bridge, you can see your way to paradise. I feel as if the past few days have given me a glimpse of that. To simply live a life without fear has been a true paradise. "

― Gail Tsukiyama , The Samurai's Garden