the wiles of the samurai?

 A frothy and not terribly interesting article from the BBC, "Get Lost in Japan's Ancient Samurai Town," includes without further elucidation this paragraph:

Then I recalled something Nagashima had said on the tour: “To defend Kanazawa, the Maeda clan encouraged the samurais to focus on arts and craftsmanship instead of fighting. That way they did not pose a threat to the clan with the highest power, and so were not invaded. As a result, there was actually almost no fighting in Kanazawa for 400 years.”

Of all the courage any warrior might display, is there anything greater than setting aside the passion of an elevated persuasion?