- “According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plans.”
- “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 make the enemy believe we are far away. When far away we must make the enemy believe we are near.”
- “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
- “If he is superior in strength, evade him.”
- “Attack him where he is unprepared. Appear where you are not expected.”
- “The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.”
- “There is no instance of a country having benefitted from prolonged warfare.”
- “A wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy’s provisions is equivalent to twenty of one’s own.”
- “Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
- “The worst strategy of all is to besiege walled cities.”
- “There are five essentials for victory: 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 who’s army is animated by the same spirit throughout all it’s 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.”
- “One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.”
Sun Tzu



