source

Bushidō aka "the way of the warriors" is a japanese code of honour and values that samurais have respected for their whole life.

The Eight Virtues of Bushidō (As visioned by Nitobe Inazō)

I. Rectitude or Justice (義 gi)

A samurai would die for justice.

"Rectitude or Justice, is the strongest virtue of Bushido. A well-known samurai defines it this way: ‘Rectitude is one’s power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right.’ Another speaks of it in the following terms: ‘Rectitude is the bone that gives firmness and stature. Without bones the head cannot rest on top of the spine, nor hands move nor feet stand. So without Rectitude neither talent nor learning can make the human frame into a samurai.’"

II. Heroic Courage (勇 yū)

If you ever watched the "Last Samurai" movie you would have seen that samurais went to the final battle with swords and bows against rifles,cannons and automated machine-guns. That's what I name real courage! Always fight for what you believe in!

"Courage is worthy of being counted among virtues only if it’s exercised in the cause of Righteousness and Rectitude. In his Analects, Confucius says: ‘Perceiving what is right and doing it not reveals a lack of Courage.’ In short, ‘Courage is doing what is right.’"

III. Benevolence, Mercy (仁 jin)

When was the last act of mercy you did? A samurai would never back of defending or helping a poor man even if he could get hurt badly by doing so.

"Love, magnanimity, affection for others, sympathy and pity, are traits of Benevolence, the highest attribute of the human soul. Both Confucius and Mencius often said the highest requirement of a ruler of men is Benevolence."

IV. Respect(Politeness) (礼 rei)

You would never see a rude samurai. Again I want to make a reference the "Last Samurai" movie where the captured american has been accepted in the japanese village and treated nicely even if he killed numerous samurais in battle.

"Courtesy and good manners have been noticed by every foreign tourist as distinctive Japanese traits. But Politeness should be the expression of a benevolent regard for the feelings of others; it’s a poor virtue if it’s motivated only by a fear of offending good taste. In its highest form Politeness approaches love."

V. Integrity (誠 makoto)

Personally I disagree with their conception that "luxury was the greatest menace to manhood".. Luxury items are beauties created by us to have a more comfortable life. I don't think having that should be a humility..

"Bushido encouraged thrift, not for economical reasons so much as for the exercise of abstinence. Luxury was thought the greatest menace to manhood, and severe simplicity was required of the warrior class … the counting machine and abacus were abhorred."

VI. Honour (名誉 meiyo)

Believe it or not, they comitted suicide by sepuku when their honour was greatly affected. Nowadays unfortunately honour is worth nothing to the majority of people..

"The sense of Honor, a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth, characterized the samurai. He was born and bred to value the duties and privileges of his profession. Fear of disgrace hung like a sword over the head of every samurai … To take offense at slight provocation was ridiculed as ‘short-tempered.’ As the popular adage put it: ‘True patience means bearing the unbearable.’"

VII. Duty and Loyalty (忠義 chūgi)

The sense of duty and loyalty of a samurai was admired and envied by many people especially enemies whose soldiers weren't even half as loyal as these badass warriors were. ;)

"Loyalty to a superior was the most distinctive virtue of the feudal era. Personal fidelity exists among all sorts of men: a gang of pickpockets swears allegiance to its leader. But only in the code of chivalrous Honor does Loyalty assume paramount importance."

VIII. Character and Self-Control (自制 jisei)

Personally I always value a man of great character much more than someone with a poor one,but better expertise in a domain.

"The first objective of samurai education was to build up Character. The subtler faculties of prudence, intelligence, and dialectics were less important. Intellectual superiority was esteemed, but a samurai was essentially a man of action. No historian would argue that Hideyoshi personified the Eight Virtues of Bushido throughout his life. Like many great men, deep faults paralleled his towering gifts. Yet by choosing compassion over confrontation, and benevolence over belligerence, he demonstrated ageless qualities of manliness. Today his lessons could not be more timely."

All these values presented in "the way of warriors" should be priced much more in today's world. We can rarely find people with all these attributes, but when we do we should put much more price on them. Sincerely, I know a man with several virtues mentioned above who is washing floors in apartment blocks for minimum wage.. That's only one proof that our society doesn't care about principles anymore..

Thank you for reading my article!