Sun Tzu

• To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.
• 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.
• Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate.
• What is essential in war is victory, not prolonged operations.
• He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.
• Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
• Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
• Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.
• If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles... if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.
• If ten times the enemy's strength, surround them; if five times, attack them; if double, divide them; if equal, be able to fight them; if fewer, be able to evade them; if weaker, be able to avoid them.
• What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.
• The more you read and learn, the less your adversary will know.
• Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
• All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
• Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.
• For 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.
• He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.
• Management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization.
• When torrential water tosses boulders, it is because of its momentum. When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing.
• If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.
• Know your enemy and know yourself, find naught in fear for 100 battles. Know yourself but not your enemy, find level of loss and victory. Know thy enemy but not yourself, wallow in defeat every time.
• Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge.
• Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
• The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
• The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.
• The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
• The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.
• There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare.
• Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.
• Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.
• And therefore those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him.
• When the enemy is at ease, be able to weary him; when well fed, to starve him; when at rest, to make him move. Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.
• Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace; divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is master of his enemy's fate.
• To a surrounded enemy, you must leave a way of escape.
• Too frequent rewards indicate that the general is at the end of his resources; too frequent punishments that he is in acute distress.
• Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.
• Bestow rewards without respect to customary practice; publish orders without respect to precedent. Thus you may employ the entire army as you would one man.
• To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
• To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.
• If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders are clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers.
• A leader leads by example not by force.
• A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation and does not demand it of his subordinates.
• If your opponent is of choleric temperment, seek to irritate him.
• To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.
• Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.
• One defends when his strength is inadequate, he attacks when it is abundant.
• Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with your enemy.