Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish to survive in the battle and you will surely meet death.

Another quote →

Notes from Wikiquote

Cited in cite web | Cited in cite journal | (Review of several books on the samurai of Japan.)

Variants

"Those who cling to life die, and those who defy death live."

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Uesugi Kenshin (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.