Sun Tzu Quotes

“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin.”

“All warfare is based on deception.”

“Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”

“Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.”

“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”

“Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”

“Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.”

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

“There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.”

“Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.”

“In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.”

“Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”

“Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans.”

“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.”

“He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.”

“He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.”

“He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.”

“He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.”

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

“The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.”

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

“To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.”

“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.”

“What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.”

“The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.”