…when you go into battle, the most important thing isn’t selecting your horse. The most important thing is winning.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: Here, both an important lesson, and a theme of the book, are revealed. Yoshitsune’s father made the mistake of caring more about selecting a horse for battle than winning the battle that took his life and led to the destruction of his clan and family. It is a lesson Yoshitsune, and countless samurai after him, took to heart.

Yoshitsune’s only assets were brains, ambition, and a dream. But childhood dreams can change history.
-- Narrator (Chapter 2)

Importance: As a child, Yoshitsune had nothing beyond his mind, determination, and the dream of revenge. Children are often thought to be incapable of creating change, but this is not true. Yoshitsune proved this. Yoshitsune rose from childhood to become the most famous samurai in Japanese history, a model by which all other samurai would try...