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I think I have made it clear that I never intended to make enemies. But in an age when anti-foreign sentiment was running high, it was unavoidable that in my position as an advocate of open intercourse and free adoption of Western culture, I should make some adversaries.

— Fukuzawa Yukichi The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi (1897)

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Each individual man and each individual country, according to the principles of natural reason, is free from bondage.

We do not have time to wait for the enlightenment of our neighbors so that we can work together toward the development of Asia.

Seen in this light, civilization is an open-ended process. We cannot be satisfied with the present level of attainment of the West.

Bunmeiron no Gairyaku [An Outline of a Theory of Civilization (1875)

It is said that heaven does not create one man above or below another man. Any existing distinction between the wise and the stupid, between the rich and the poor, comes down to a matter of education.

Whatever happens in the country, whatever warfare harasses our land, we will never relinquish our hold on Western learning. As long as this school of ours stands, Japan remains a civilized nation of the world.

The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi (1897)

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