I SOLVED THE NINJA-SAMURAI PROBLEM!!!

okay, so for the longest time, i have wondered....

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NINJA AND A SAMURAI???????

jesus. you'd think it wouldn't take me so long to remember to figure out the answer.

if you REEEEALLY want to know, you can look at this book: "Ninja: The Shadow Warrior" by Joel Levy.

if you want to know really bad, but are too lazy to go find the answer in a book, here is an excerpt (although i'm pretty sure it's not exactly legal to copy part of books into blogs, but i'm doing it anyway. sheesh, it's not like i'm not giving this Joel guy credit. i recommended his book, for the love of all that is awesome!):

Ninja: The Shadow Warrior
Joel Levy
Page fourteen

Some teachers of ninjutsu emphasize that the key to ninja philosophy is found in the interpretation of the word "ninja" as "one who endures." In other words, the ninja philosophy is one of stoicism, of taking all that life throws at a person, enduring it, and attaining one's goal. This emphasizes on the end rather than the means is part of what sets the ninja in opposition to the samurai. The samurai, who were Japan's warrior caste, developed very strict ethical and behavioral precepts that governed how they lived, fought, and died. Honor was paramount, and to maintain that honor it was essential to fightin a noble, forthright fashion: the warrior met the enemy head-on, ideally in single combat out in the open, and announced himself, actively seeking as much attention as possible, before combat. The samurai was expected to place honor above life, so that if he lost a battle, was captured, or failed in his duty to his lord ideally he committed suicide.

The tradition and philosophy of the ninja were the antithesis of the samurai way. the ninja's roots were in poor farming communities and social strata that were looked down upon by the haughty and aristocratic samurai. His philosophy was to avoiad open combat where possible, to use any means of subterfuge, dishonesty, trickery, or strategy to acheive his ends, and to succeed at all costs. The ninja often worked as a mercenary, with no loyalty to his employer, and was probably despised by the samurai as embodying all the traints and behaviors the samurai sought to avoid.

if you are REALLY lazy and don't want to read it even if i just spend a whole minute of my life illegally copying part of a book for you, here is a quick translation:
The samurai is a sore loser that will kill himself to "protect his honor," and will not fight dirty, even to save his life, while the ninja is an opportunist who will sneak in the background and cheat to finish the job, essentially making himself a better assasin then the samurai, and obviously more awesome then him, as well.

and that's it for the differences between the samurai and the ninja. my verdict is:
NINJA IS BETTER THEN SAMURAI. i mean, my Grampa, who fought the Japanese in WWII, says that soldiers were like that even then: i mean, honor is good, but you don't kill yourself when you lose a battle. that would get exasperating, you know what i mean? imagine all the people you're hurting, besides pulling yourself farther to the losing side of things if you kill yourself and don't keep fighting.

don't get me wrong, i value honor. if i don't have to, i am absolutely not going to lie, cheat, steal, or trick people. but i'm not going to kill myself to protect HONOR, of all things. jeez. i may like to think that i would jump in front of a bullet to save others (that seems my ideal way to die) but i'm not going to die for something that stupid.

so, essentially, honor is important, but not important enough to die for.

i will forget about honor if it means protecting those i love.

Peace,
Brii333