"Not Doing It is the Same as Not Thinking It
It's all right to get in a fight once in a while. If a boy doesn't have enough spirit to get into a little fisticuffs, he won't do very well. People may be trying to look good when they say; "I don't fight," but really, it just reveals their flaws.
When I was a boy, I was always getting into fights. Once, I got into a fight, and I had two opponents. As I was throwing one boy, I was suddenly whacked on the head by the other with his geta (wooden shoe) and I blacked out. People thought I had lost; but I hadn't lost. I just happened to have blacked out. So when I got up, I said, "fine" and, taking up a piece of kindling, I went off to lay in wait for each one of them and beat them. Then each one of them cried out, "Help!" So, I was the one who won.
Now, I'm not encouraging you all to go out and get into fights. There's no need for you to win over someone, but it's no good for you to lose. Even if you lose once, don't think that you have lost. At the last you have only yourself to depend on. You see, just because you lost once, it's no good if you just slink away from something.
One can talk about all kinds of theories. "People who get into fights are fools." "Violence is wrong." Theoretically, that's the way it is; but some people don't understand you when you tell them the theory. If your little brothers or sisters are bullied to tears by some other kid, tell the other kid, "Stop it!" and putting your brother or sister behind you, tell him, "If you want to hit someone, try hitting me." Try it sometime! When you think you are in the right, stand up for it even if you have to risk yourself physically. I think that's the kind of people we want to become.
Even when you think something from the heart, not doing it is the same as not thinking it.
For example, when you all get up in the morning and see your father and mother, do you tell them, "good morning, father," and "good morning, mother"? I'm not talking about trying to get on their good sides. It's just something that everyone should do. The reality is that the number of people who can't do the things that they should is increasing; so recently Japan has fallen into a bad state.
Japanese today are probably the worst in that way. When it comes to just dropping trash while walking along, Japanese do it more than any other people. If you think something is a bad thing, don't do it! It's not a matter of being afraid of what people will say, but of acting so that people won't have any reason to criticize you. Being able to act that way is the quality most lacking in Japan today.
We have an abundance of things and clothes. We have plenty of food. However, when it comes to the most important thing, the spirit I spoke of before, we don't have enough of it. Even if you have a thought in your hear, if you can't put it into action it's the same as never having the thought. If you know what to do and you still don't, that is even worse. Are you with me? I think this is a thought that we all want to put into action.
(from a 1979 sermon)
