勇者は懼れず yūsha wa osorezu The Brave Have No Fears

The brave are not afraid: courage named by the one thing it frees a person from. It is one clause of a line of Confucius that names three, the wise are not perplexed, the humane are not anxious, the brave are not afraid, and Japanese has quoted the clauses one or two at a time for centuries, which is what these words do; its two companions, The Wise Have No Delusions and The Benevolent Have No Worries, are offered on their own. The text here keeps the canon's character 懼 for fear rather than the everyday 恐. Whether it is for the courage or for the whole line it stands in is yours.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 勇者は懼れず.

Each design is Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase's hand-brushed calligraphy of the word or phrase on this page, delivered as a PDF you can print. Every PDF includes the line art, so a tattoo artist or a craftsperson can work from the outline as well as the brushed image.

Your purchase includes a personal-use license: use the design as a tattoo reference, frame it, engrave it, print it for yourself, or make it into a gift. For more information see Licensing, which also covers commercial-use options that may be purchased separately.

Your PDF is available for download the moment your order completes, and a copy is attached to your emailed receipt.

If you need your design again later, ask us for it and we will send it.