One of M.A.S.K. agent Bruce Sato's distinguishing traits is his penchant for expressing himself in Confucian riddles that make sense only to Matt Trakker. These "Satoisms" generally lead to humorous confusion on the part of the other M.A.S.K. members until Trakker offers an explanation.
The following is a list of these statements and their respective episodes.
List of Satoisms[]
"If a fish flies, look not for a fish but a bird inside." (The Deathstone)
"It matters not what a key is made of, so long as it opens the lock." (The Star Chariot)
"A wounded rabbit makes the full fox hungry." (The Star Chariot)
"When the eggs are disturbed, the bird makes a new nest." (The Star Chariot)
"Time to make the fox run from the scarecrow." (The Book of Power)
"An illusion is little more than a theft from the eye." (Highway to Terror)
"A magician makes the rabbit vanish... but only for the eyes." (Video VENOM)
"When one lives in a new age, one must not forget the advantage of the old." (Dinosaur Boy)
"That which is solid can also be liquid." (Dinosaur Boy)
"When the small are many, they are stronger than the strongest." (The Roteks)
"Angels give, demons take." (The Oz Effect)
"To catch a tiger, one must be its prey." (The Oz Effect)
"A giant cannot hide." (The Oz Effect)
"A whale cannot swim without moving the water." (The Magma Mole)
"Perhaps the wind can do what the hammer can not." (The Magma Mole)
"The bird of prey has not only wings for flying, but feet for lifting." (Solaria Park)
"Dig not with the hands when the shovel lies waiting." (Solaria Park)
"The farther the water goes out, the bigger the whale that returns." (Solaria Park)
"An object need not look like a fish to smell like one." (Assault on Liberty)
"The clever bird feigns distress to conceal her real nest." (Assault on Liberty)
"The plight of modern man is controlled by the touch of his past." (The Sceptre of Rajim)
"In this prison, it's the guards who wear the stripes." (The Sceptre of Rajim)
"Time is merely nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once." (The Golden Goddess)
"True friends are those who would face death to prevent it." (Cold Fever)
"The haystack is a large place to search for the needle." (Vanishing Point)
"Even the wolf circles back, leaving two sets of tracks to confuse its pursuers." (Vanishing Point)
"There is no journey unless the first step is taken." (The Plant Show)
"He who laughs at quicksand should be sure of his own feet." (The Plant Show)
"For every poison there is an antidote." (Blackout)
"And when giants meet, a storm will follow?" (Blackout)
"Perhaps, the ugly one cannot bear to see its own face." (A Matter Of Gravity)
"Long falls and close calls make nervous bedfellows." (The Currency of Conspiracy)
"Young man in hot water longs for the snow." (The Currency of Conspiracy)
"A city boy in the mountains is in for a cold reception." (The Currency of Conspiracy)
"Danger has loose etiquette." (The Chinese Scorpion)
"Fish can swim, flowers can bloom. However, a dancing rock has no leg to stand on." (The Sacred Rock)
"A man's greatest honor comes not from what is written on paper, but in his heart." (Riddle of the Raven Master)
"He who eats too much sugar soon has sweet nothings where his teeth used to be." (The Lost Fleet)
"Wise man say: Just when you think you see nothing, you see everything." (The Lost Fleet)
"Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single fall." (Quest of the Canyon)
"Two sides to a coin means two ways to join." (Patchwork Puzzle)
"Sometimes the best defense is to avoid the battle." (Fog on Boulder Hill)
"Perhaps it is not the answer we need, but the proper question." (Fog on Boulder Hill)
"It would appear that the treasure is in the eye of the beholder." (Treasure of the Nazca Plain)
"Sometimes, that which has vanished without a trace, has not really vanished at all." (Disappearing Act)
"Perhaps we look but we do not see." (Disappearing Act)
"The secret of illusion is often nothing more than looking in the wrong place at the wrong time." (Disappearing Act)
"Sometimes the eye does not behold the truth." (Gate of Darkness)
"A house has many doors." (Gate of Darkness)
Origin of the Term "Satoism"[]
The earliest documented use of the term "Satoism" is on the M.A.S.K. Message Board in 2006, though it very likely may have originated verbally prior to that.