Forest Whitaker: Ghost Dog
Photos
Quotes
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Ghost Dog : There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.
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Ghost Dog : It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this.
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Ghost Dog : There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there is nothing left to do, and nothing else to pursue.
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[first lines]
Ghost Dog : The Way of the Samurai is found in death. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears, and swords. Being carried away by surging waves. Being thrown into the midst of a great fire. Being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake. Falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease, or committing seppuku at the death of one's master. And every day, without fail, one should consider himself as dead. This is the substance of the Way of the Samurai.
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Ghost Dog : Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige's wall, there was this one: "Matters of great concern should be treated lightly." Master Ittei commented, "Matters of small concern should be treated seriously."
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Ghost Dog : In the words of the ancients, one should make his decision within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break through to the other side.
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Samurai in Camouflage : Ghost Dog, power, equality.
Ghost Dog : Always see everything, my brother.
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Ghost Dog : It is said that what is called the Spirit of an Age is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. In the same way, a single year does not have just spring or summer. A single day, too, is the same. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation.
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Ghost Dog : Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness. Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase "Form is emptiness." That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the phrase "Emptiness is form." One should not think that these are two separate things.
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Ghost Dog : When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about doing it in a long, roundabout way. One's heart may slacken, he may miss his chance, and by and large there will be no success. The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong.
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Ghost Dog : According to what one of the elders said, taking an enemy on the battlefield is like a hawk taking a bird. Even though it enters into the midst of a thousand of them, it gives no attention to any bird than the one it first marked.
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Ghost Dog : Even if one's head were to be suddenly cut off, he should be able to do one more action with certainty. With martial valor, if one becomes like a revengeful ghost and shows great determination, though his head is cut off, he should not die.
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Ghost Dog : It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. It is the same for anything that is called a Way. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all ways and be more and more in accord with his own.
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Ghost Dog : If one were to say in a word what the condition of being a samurai is, its basis lies first in seriously devoting one's body and soul to his master.
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Ghost Dog : [drives by a couple of hunters with the corpse of a black bear, stops and gets out] Wow, that's a hell of a big bear you killed there.
Bear Hunter : Yep. The fucker weighs about three-hundred pounds.
Ghost Dog : You know, it's funny, because I... I didn't - I didn't even know that it was bear-hunting season.
Bear Hunter : What are you, a game warden? Some kind of Fed or something?
Ghost Dog : No, no. I'm just asking, you know. Just asking.
Bear Hunter : Well, I'll tell ya'. You see, there aren't too many of these big black fuckers left around here, so when you get a good, clear shot at it, you sure as hell take it.
Ghost Dog : Hmm. That's why you shoot 'em... because there aren't that many left.
Bear Hunter : [getting skeptical] I don't think I understand your question.
Bear Hunter : [takes a shotgun from the bed of their pickup truck] You know, there ain't all that many colored people around here, neither. Maybe you oughta get back in your fancy car and go about your own business.
Ghost Dog : [stares at him blankly for a moment before smiling and chuckling] Yeah, maybe you're right.
[turns as though he's about to comply, then quickly points a gun at the armed hunter and opens fire, hitting him twice and killing him; the other hunter is already getting into the driver's side of the vehicle going for his firearm but then is stopped when Ghost Dog fires a round into the back of his knee, making him fall next to the bear, groaning in extreme pain]
Bear Hunter : [moaning] Jesus Christ! You fucking hit my knee!
Ghost Dog : [stands over him, gun aimed at his face] You know, in ancient cultures, bears were considered equal with men.
Bear Hunter : [looks up at him, still moaning] This ain't no ancient culture here, mister.
Ghost Dog : Sometimes it is.
[shoots him]
