Anyone can learn karate. — Ansei Ueshiro
He who conquers himself is the greatest warrior. — Karate precept
Karate is a lifetime marathon. — Shoshin Nagamine
Karate ni sente nashi. (There is no first strike in karate.) — Gichin Funakoshi
The only secret is to practice seriously and with perseverance, in order to achieve the state of mushin which opens the doors of the hara to consciousness. — Master Egami
A mastery of karate does not depend on the learner’s physical constitution, but mainly on constant practice. — Chotoku Kyan
I come to you with only Karate.
My hands are empty, but I fear no man.
Should I be forced to defend myself,
my honor, or my principles;
should it be a matter of right or wrong, life or death
Then here are my weapons, my empty hands. — The Karate Creed
Karate is an art, a study, and a practical application of an integrated philosophy. It embodies physical, emotional, and spiritual values which may be applied to all phases of one’s everyday life. To accomplish this there exists one simple vehicle. That vehicle is kata, the essence of karate. Kata embodies all the secrets, the mystery, the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual concepts of the masters. Kata is the key, the answer, the solution to everything that we search for in karate. Kata is zen. Kata is simple yet difficult. Like the wind, it is motion as in the physical performance, yet motionless. It is attainable yet unattainable. Once grasped it may slip away only to be grasped once again. It is a perfect imperfection. Kata is real yet a dream, a very possible dream. It shows our strength while making us aware of our weakness. It is a passive way to destroy and kill. It is brutal and vicious in a most humane way. Kata transforms destructive power into a flurry of beauty. ‘To teach kata is to learn kata,’ and from that maxim applied to life, an unbroken cultural chain is created and sustained. This is karate-do. — Hanshi Robert Scaglione, from the Introduction to the Red Book
Ueshiro Northfield Shorin-Ryu Karate Dojo 