Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.
Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measure of far and near wins - this is the rule of armed struggle.
There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.
The one who figures on victory at headquarters before even doing battle is the one who has the most strategic factors on his side.
Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace; divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is master of his enemy's fate.
In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.
Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
Without harmony in the State, no military expedition can be undertaken; without harmony in the army, no battle array can be formed.
If not in the interests of the state, do not act. If you cannot succeed, do not use troops. If you are not in danger, do not fight.
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.
Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another ten times its size, the result will be the flight of the former.
As water shapes its flow in accordance with the ground, so an army manages its victory in accordance with the situation of the enemy.
Too frequent rewards indicate that the general is at the end of his resources; too frequent punishments that he is in acute distress.
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.
It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.
If I am able to determine the enemy's dispositions while at the same time I conceal my own, then I can concentrate and he must divide.
Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered. Know the ground, know the weather; your victory will then be total.
One who speaks deferentially but increases his preparations will advance. One who speaks belligerently and advances hastily will retreat.
To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable. The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy.
The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.
The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.
Ponder and deliberate before you make your move. He will conquer who has learned the artifice of deviation. Such is the art of maneuvering.
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.
Someone unfamiliar with the mountains and forests cannot advance [the team]. One who does not employ local guides cannot gain the advantage.
Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.
Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow.
Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.
Winning Strategists are certain of triumph before seeking a challenge. Losing Strategists are certain to challenge before seeking a triumph.
Should the enemy forestall you in occupying a pass, do not go after him if the pass is fully garrisoned, but only if it is weakly garrisoned.
A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.
Now a soldier's spirit is keenest in the morning; by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, his mind is only on returning to camp.
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.
Order or disorder depends on organisation and direction; courage or cowardice on circumstances; strength or weakness on tactical dispositions.
A sovereign of high character and intelligence must be able to know the right man, should place the responsibility on him, and expect results.
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.
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.
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.
Birds rising in flight is a sign that the enemy is lying in ambush; when the wild animals are startled and flee he is trying to take you unaware.
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.
The value of time, that is of being a little ahead of your opponent, often provides greater advantage than superior numbers or greater resources.
What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.
To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
If I wish to engage, then the enemy, for all his high ramparts and deep moat, cannot avoid engagement; I attack that which he is obliged to rescue.
Thus, though I have heard of successful military operations that were clumsy but swift, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
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.
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.
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.
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.