Sun Tzu Quotes

The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

The height of strategy, is to attack your opponent's strategy.

So long as victory can be attained, stupid haste is preferable to clever dilatoriness.

Know thy enemy and know thy self and you will win a hundred battles.

Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move.

If your enemy is superior, evade him

Unless you enter the tiger's lair, you cannot get hold of the tiger's cub's.

He whose ranks are united in purpose will be victorious.

The worst calamities that befall an army arise from hesitation

The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.

Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems.

To persuade your enemy to (retreat) before the fight is to defeat them even before the battle begins. An enemy made ally is no longer an enemy.

If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual.

All warfare is based on deception. There is no place where espionage is not used. Offer the enemy bait to lure him.

Order or disorder depends on organisation; courage or cowardice on circumstances; strength or weakness on dispositions.

What enables the enlightened rulers and good generals to conquer the enemy at every move and achieve extraordinary success is foreknowledge.

Nothing is more difficult than the art of maneuvering for advantageous positions.

Appraise war in terms of the fundamental factors. The first of these factors is moral influence.

Without harmony in the State, no military expedition can be undertaken; without harmony in the army, no battle array can be formed.

If a battle can not be won do not fight it.

And addressed them thus: I presume you know the difference between front and back, right hand and left hand?

War is like a fire - if you do not put it out, it will burn itself out.

All war is deception.

The peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict unnecessary.

He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them.

To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable. The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy.

It is the unemotional, reserved, calm, detached warrior who wins, not the hothead seeking vengeance and not the ambitious seeker of fortune.

Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.

Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster

The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands

Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.

Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price.

Apparent confusion is a product of good order; apparent cowardice, of courage; apparent weakness, of strength.

Generally in war the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this.

Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared.

Attack the enemy's strategy.

Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision,
to the releasing of a trigger.

I have heard that the ancients used bows and arrows to their advantage.

In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

Fierce language and pretentious advances are signs that the enemy is about to retreat.

The good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy.

Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.

Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.

Set the troops to their tasks without imparting your designs.

When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food.

Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.

To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill

Don't flail against the world, use it. Flexibility is the operative principle in the art of war.

When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.

Supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

Danger has a bracing effect.

Quickness is the essence of the war.

In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.

Keep their friends close and their enemies closer.

Attack where he is unprepared; sally forth when he does not expect you.

Those who would wage war, should first eliminate all domestic enemies before proceeding to attack the external foe.

To perceive victory when it is known to all is not really skilful. Everyone calls victory in battle good, but it is not really good.

If quick, I survive. If not quick, I am lost. This is death.

Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.

By reinforcing every part, he weakens every part.

You have to believe in yourself.

Correct your mistake as soon as you have found it.

Thus those skilled in war subdue the enemy's army without battle ... They conquer by strategy.

If you are near the enemy, make him believe you are far from him.
If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are now

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the
opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

Against those skilled in attack, an enemy does not know where to defend; against the experts in defense, the enemy does not know where to attack.

Winning isn't enough. The acme of all skill is to defeat your enemy before taking the field.

Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow.

Like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is INSUBORDINATION.

One who speaks deferentially but increases his preparations will advance. One who speaks belligerently and advances hastily will retreat.

Rapidity is the essence of war.

When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is COLLAPSE.

Do not press an enemy at bay.

Therefore victory in war is not repetitious, but adapts its form endlessly.

The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities ... It is best to win without fighting.

He who is not sage and wise, humane and just, cannot use secret agent.s. And he who is not delicate and subtle cannot get the truth out of them.

Swift as the wind. Quiet as the forest. Conquer like the fire. Steady as the mountain

Sweat more during peace: bleed less during war

To prevent the enemy from fathoming one's intentions is of the first importance.

The dance of battle is always played to the same impatient rhythm. What begins in a surge of violent motion is always reduced to the perfectly still.

To ... not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of virtues.

For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.

If you fight with all your might, there is a chance of life; where as death is certain if you cling to your corner

And regulation entails organizational effectiveness, a chain of command, and a structure for logistical support.

Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, "Well done!

One cat at the hole, and ten thousand mice dare not come out; one tiger in the valley, and ten thousand deer cannot pass through.

According to my assessment, even if you have many more troops than others, how can that help you to victory?

Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

So it is that good warriors take their stance on ground where they cannot lose, and do not overlook conditions that make an opponent prone to defeat.

One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful, subduing the other's military without battle is the most skillful.

There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.

If there is disturbance in the camp, the general's authority is weak.

A sovereign of high character and intelligence must be able to know the right man, should place the responsibility on him, and expect results.

Weak leadership can wreck the soundest strategy

There is no place where espionage is not possible.

Chapter1
Laying Plans

Hence the experienced soldier, once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss.