So, Miyamoto Musashi is often quoted as saying the following:
"The truth isn't what you want it to be; it is what it is, and you must bend to its power, or live a lie"
the only problem is, I can't find this statement anywhere in his book. Does anyone know the source for this commonly attributed quote to Musashi?
Yeah.... the reason you can't find it in Musashi's works is that it's not in Musashi's works.
There are any number of "Musashi quotes" that aren't... they are taken from various editions of translations (well.... mostly) of Musashi's works, such as initial commentaries by persons such as Kenji Tokitsu, author of "Musashi: His Life and Writings". In this case, we're talking about a quote taken from Stephen Kaufman's "version" of The Book of Five Rings (Gorin no Sho). Kaufman describes this as the "definitive" version, and constantly claims that it's the most lauded version around... except, of course, it's not. It's utter garbage.
Look, the forum here has a strict no-fraud-busting policy, so I'm going to try to tread around using that particular word... but....
Stephen Kaufman was a fairly untalented, unskilled, relatively low-grade karate practitioner in the 60's who invented his own system of karate, promoted himself to 10th Dan, named himself "Hanshi" (a shogo title that was originated by the Dai Nippon Butokukai, an organisation that helped promote and regulate modern Japanese martial arts that ended in 1946, and is now used by groups associated with the Nippon Budokan, such as the Zen Nippon Kendo Renmei), and promoted himself as being "the only 10th Dan in America!"... which, of course, he was... because he gave the grade to himself. Hmm.
His lack of skill didn't worry his ego, and has continued to teach, naming his school "Dojo no Hebi", meaning "School of the Snake".... except, because of his lack of any clue of Japanese, it doesn't. It's more along the lines of "snake of the dojo"... which is amusingly appropriate. He has taught his karate, iaido (which would be hysterical if it wasn't so dangerous and badly performed, and that people actually pay him to teach him that stuff). He has also written a number of books, including the above-mentioned version of the Gorin no Sho... which is touted as being "the only version geared towards martial artists", as well as being the "best translation" of the text. Except, of course... it's not.
As we've established, Kaufman's grasp on Japanese is basically non-existent. His version of Gorin no Sho isn't a translation. It's a re-write of the book based on his complete failure to understand the text, lack of awareness of the context, inability to express the meanings, and overt delusions based in his woefully inadequate martial training. His writing of the text is his own fantasy, and has little bearing on the original text, which makes the above quote so ironic... it's is Kaufman living the lie as he refuses to accept reality or truth.