Sun Tzu Quotes

He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

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.

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

To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.

Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.

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.

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

Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.

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

A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.

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

The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

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.

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

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

In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.

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.

Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.

There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.

Like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

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.

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

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.

Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.

Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.

Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

A leader leads by example not by force.

All war is based on deception.

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

If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding.

The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."

Do not press an enemy at bay.

Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move.

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

A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.

When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.

The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not be swayed by petty doubts.

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.

The skilful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man.

One who sets the entire army in motion to chase an advantage will not attain it.

The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence.

So there are five ways of knowing who will win. Those who know when to fight and when not to fight are victorious. Those who discern when to use many or few troops are victorious. Those whose upper and lower ranks have the same desire are victorious.

Therefore a victorious army first wins and then seeks battle; a defeated army first battles and then seeks victory.

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.

The proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause people's substance to be drained away. When their substance is drained away, they will be afflicted by heavy exactions. With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and their incomes dissipated.