Yamamoto Tsunetomo. Hagakure (№ 123560)

Unprincipled to think that you can't achieve anything reached the great masters. The masters are people, and neither do you people. If you know that you can be the same as they are, you're already on the way to it.
Master Ittei said: "Confucius was a sage because I wanted the teachings from the age of fifteen, not because he studied in his old age". It reminds of the Buddhist saying: "There is an intention, will and enlightenment".