In my youth, I studied the Daishonin’s writings thoroughly, to the extent that I actually committed many of his major writings to memory. That effort has built a foundation that has stood me well for my entire life.
From The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 2, revised edition, p. 285
Daisaku Ikeda
My flight from Hokkaido had a stopover at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and my mentor, Josei Toda, was there waiting to meet me. At that time, he said, “Daisaku, should death overtake you, I will rush to your side and throw myself upon you and accompany you in death.” There were tears in his eyes. I remember his warmth as he embraced my thin frame tightly. I was arrested by the Osaka Prefectural Police around 7:00 in the evening on July 3—inexplicably, the same time and date when my mentor had been released from prison twelve years earlier.
From The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, pp. 299-300
Daisaku Ikeda
Mr. Makiguchi truly worked tirelessly to advance kosen-rufu, spreading the Mystic Law. Amid persecution by the authorities and while already at an advanced age, he conducted more than 240 discussion meetings (from May 1941 to June 1943, when he turned seventy-two). He also traveled alone to different regions and personally introduced some five hundred people to Nichiren Buddhism (from 1930, the year of the Soka Gakkai’s founding, to July 1943, when he was arrested).
From The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, p. 259
Daisaku Ikeda