The Kanji Project: Honor I

Honor: Though Bushido deals with the profession of soldiering, it is equally concerned with non-martial behavior; 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."