Sun Tzu
Winning isn't enough. The acme of all skill is to defeat your enemy before taking the field.Collection: Leadership
Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.Collection: Art Of War
There are routes not to be followed, armies not to be attacked, citadels not to be besieged, territory not to be fought over.Collection: Inspirational
If the enemy opens the door, you must race in.Collection: Race
When your opponent gives you an opening, be swift as a hare.Collection: Giving
Attack where he is unprepared; sally forth when he does not expect you.Collection: Art
When one treats people with benevolence, justice and righteousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders.Collection: Art
Keep their friends close and their enemies closer.Collection: Enemy
When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.Collection: Art
Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.Collection: Art
All war is deception.Collection: War
If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.Collection: Art
War is a matter of vital importance to the state.Collection: War
An army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.Collection: Art
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.Collection: War
When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the commander-in-chief can tell whether or not he is in a position to fight, the result is ruin.Collection: Art
A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.Collection: War
Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports.Collection: Art
One who sets the entire army in motion to chase an advantage will not attain it.Collection: Art
Victory is the main object in war.Collection: Art
Whoever is the first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh for the fight... Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy... By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.Collection: Art
The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not be swayed by petty doubts.Collection: Art
Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called entangling.Collection: Art
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.Collection: Athlete
When campaigning, be swift as the wind; in leisurely march, majestic as the forest; in raiding and plundering, like fire; in standing, firm as the mountains. As unfathomable as the clouds, move like a thunderbolt.Collection: Art
With regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies. Then you will be able to fight with advantage.Collection: Art
If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst.Collection: Art
It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.Collection: Military
Where the army is, prices are high; when prices rise the wealth of the people is exhausted.Collection: Army
According to my assessment, even if you have many more troops than others, how can that help you to victory?Collection: War
One who has few must prepare against the enemy; one who has many makes the enemy prepare against him.Collection: Art
Those skilled in attack move as from above the nine-fold heavens. Thus they are capable both of protecting themselves and of gaining complete victory.Collection: Moving
In the tumult and uproar, the battle seems chaotic, but there is no disorder, the troops appear to be milling about in circles but cannot be defeated.Collection: Circles
For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.Collection: War
All warfare is based on deception. There is no place where espionage is not used. Offer the enemy bait to lure him.Collection: War
Apparent confusion is a product of good order; apparent cowardice, of courage; apparent weakness, of strength.Collection: Order
Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.Collection: Home
In peace prepare for war, in war prepare for peace. The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence under no circumstances can it be neglected.Collection: Strength
If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and fighting will be to your disadvantage.Collection: Art
Who can determine where one ends and the other begins?Collection: Relationship
It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.Collection: Art
If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual.Collection: Men
The business of a general is to kick away the ladder behind soldiers when they have climbed up a height.Collection: Soldier
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.Collection: War
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.Collection: Business
Hostile armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory which is decided in a single day. This being so, to remain in ignorance of the enemy's condition simply because one grudges the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver in honors and emoluments, is the height of inhumanity.Collection: Ignorance
Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.Collection: Art
The General who in advancing does not seek personal fame, and in withdrawing is not concerned with avoiding punishment, but whose only purpose is to protect the people and promote the best interests of his sovereign, is the precious jewel of the state.Collection: Art
The supreme excellence is not to win a hundred victories in a hundred battles. The supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies without having to fight them.Collection: Art