Quotes from Morihei Ueshiba

Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts. Always keep your body filled with light and heat. Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and enlightenment.

Your spirit is the true shield.

All the principles of heaven and earth are living inside you. Life itself is truth, and this will never change. Everything in heaven and earth breathes. Breath is the thread that ties creation together.

Your heart is full of fertile seeds, waiting to sprout.

Create each day anew by clothing yourself with heaven and earth, bathing yourself with wisdom and love, and placing yourself in the heart of Mother Nature.

Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and enlightenment.

Aikido is the Way and Principle of harmonizing Heaven, Earth and Man.

A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind.

It is necessary to develop a strategy that utilizes all the physical conditions and elements that are directly at hand. The best strategy relies upon an unlimited set of responses.

True victory is victory over oneself.

ALWAYS PRACTICE the Art of Peace in a vibrant and joyful manner.

PRACTICE THE Art of Peace sincerely, and evil thoughts and deeds will naturally disappear. The only desire that should remain is the thirst for more and more training in the Way.

PRACTICE OF THE Art of Peace enables you to rise above praise or blame, and it frees you from attachment to this and that.

The Way of a Warrior is to establish harmony.

THE PATH OF PEACE is exceedingly vast, reflecting the grand design of the hidden and manifest worlds. A warrior is a living shrine of the divine, one who serves that grand purpose.

The real purpose of the martial arts must be to purge oneself of petty ambitions and desire, to obtain control of one's own character.

Aiki is not a technique to fight with or defeat an enemy. It is the way to reconcile the world and make human beings one family.

Never fear another challenger, no matter how large; Never despise another challenger, no matter how small.

Each day of human life contains joy and anger, pain and pleasure, darkness and light, growth and decay. Each moment is etched with nature's grand design — do not try to deny or oppose the cosmic order of things.

Create each day anew by clothing yourself with heaven and earth, bathing yourself with wisdom and love, and placing yourself in the heart of Mother Nature.

Economy is the basis of society. When the economy is stable, society develops. The ideal economy combines the spiritual and the material, and the best commodities to trade in are sincerity and love.

Your heart is full of fertile seeds, waiting to sprout. Just as a lotus flower springs from the mire to bloom splendidly, the interaction of the cosmic breath causes the flower of the spirit to bloom and bear fruit in this world.

The art of Peace I practice has room for each of the world's eight million gods, and I cooperate with them all. The God of Peace is very great and enjoins all that is divine and enlightened in every land.

As soon as you concern yourself with the "good" and "bad" of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter.