Truly, the impermanence of the world is like a dream within a dream. The men we saw yesterday are not here today, and the existence of those today will be in peril tomorrow. Man’s fate does not wait his breathing in and breathing out. The sun that rose in the morning sinks behind the mountain ridge in the evening, and the moon of the night before marks the beginning of the day. The blooming flowers only wait for the enticement of the storm. From these it can be seen that transience is not limited to man. And, although it would at least seem determined that old men pass away and young men live on, the fact is that death has no respect for age; and when one truly thinks about it, one cannot simply rely on youth in this uncertain world. This being so, should we not want to be remembered by others and cultivate our minds?

-Hojo Shigetoki (1198-1261)