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Sun Tzu Quotes


All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

All war is based on deception.

All war is deception.

All warfare is based on deception.

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.

Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?

Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory.

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

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.

He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious.

Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.

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.

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

If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.

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.

Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack.

It is essential to seek out enemy agents who have come to conduct espionage against you and to bribe them to serve you. Give them instructions and care for them. Thus doubled agents are recruited and used.

It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results.