Top 466 Quotes & Sayings by Sun Tzu - Page 2

If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are.

Swift as the wind. Quiet as the forest. Conquer like the fire. Steady as the mountain

Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow.

Correct your mistake as soon as you have found it.

A leader leads by example not by force.

A battle avoided cannot be lost.

If a battle can not be won do not fight it.

The line between disorder and order lies in logistics.

The peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict unnecessary.

Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small.

All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are to lure him; feign disorder and strike him. When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong, avoid him. Anger his general and confuse him. Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.

Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow...they have form but are formless. They are skilled in both planning and adapting and need not fear the result of a thousand battles: for they win in advance, defeating those that have already lost.

Kill one, terrify a thousand.

Opportunities increase as they are taken.

Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment - that which they cannot anticipate.

In desperate position, you must fight.

Sweat more during peace: bleed less during war

If you are strong, appear weak. But if you are weak, appear strong.

All war is based on deception.

If your enemy is superior, evade him

When the leader is morally weak and his discipline not strict, when his instructions and guidance are not enlightened, when there are no consistent rules, neighboring rulers will take advantage of this.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

In warfare, there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent will succeed and win.

When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.

In all history, there is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. Only one who knows the disastrous effects of a long war can realize the supreme importance of rapidity in bringing it to a close.

Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.

The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands

He who knows his enemy and himself well will not be defeated easily.

To ... not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of virtues.

You can prevent your opponent from defeating you through defense, but you cannot defeat him without taking the offensive.

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

Weigh the situation, then move.

However desperate the situation and circumstances, don't despair. When there is everything to fear, be unafraid. When surrounded by dangers, fear none of them. When without resources, depend on resourcefulness. When surprised, take the enemy by surprise.

Don't flail against the world, use it. Flexibility is the operative principle in the art of war.

He who relies solely on warlike measures shall be exterminated; he who relies solely on peaceful measures shall perish.

Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack.

Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night.

Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle, but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting.

To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.

Weak leadership can wreck the soundest strategy

Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.

The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.

A warrior who is prepared to fight must also be prepared to die.

These are the six ways of courting defeat - neglect to estimate the enemy's strength; want of authority; defective training; unjustifiable anger; nonobservance of discipline; failure to use picked men.

All wars are won or lost before they are ever fought.

Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you; this will diminish his enthusiasm

Do not engage an enemy more powerful than you. And if it is unavoidable and you do have to engage, then make sure you engage it on your terms, not on your enemy's terms.

One need not destroy one's enemy. One need only destroy his willingness to engage.

If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in.

Attack the enemy's strategy.

Humble words and increased preparations are signs that the enemy is about to advance. Violent language and driving forward as if to the attack are signs that he will retreat.

Wait by the river long enough and the body of your enemy will float by you.

The true objective of war is peace.

Unless you enter the tiger's lair, you cannot get hold of the tiger's cub's.

There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: recklessness, which leads to destruction; cowardice, which leads to capture; a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults; a delicacy of honour, which is sensitive to shame; over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.

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.

Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.

Pretend to be weak, so your enemy may grow arrogant.