It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled 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 imperilled in every single battle.
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.
What is essential in war is victory, not prolonged operations.
To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.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.
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.
A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.
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.
All warfare is based on deception.
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 knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.
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.
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
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.
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.
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.
O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.
Of all those in the army close to the commander none is more intimate than the secret agent; of all rewards none more liberal than those given to secret agents; of all matters none is more confidential than those relating to secret operations.
Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.
Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move.
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.
The ultimate in disposing one's troops is to be without ascertainable shape. Then the most penetrating spies cannot pry in nor can the wise lay plans against you.
There is no instance of a nation benefitting 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 inadaquate, he attacks when it is abundant
Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with your enemy
Move as swift as a wind, stay as silent as forest, attack fierce like fire, unmovable defence like a mountain.
-Sun Tzu
