The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle, but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting.
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.
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.
Thus the expert in battle moves the enemy, and is not moved by him.
Order or disorder depends on organisation and direction; courage or cowardice on circumstances; strength or weakness on tactical dispositions.
Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.
It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled 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 imperiled in every single battle.
When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night.
Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.
When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.
Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards... Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.
If the mind is willing, the flesh could go on and on without many things.
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.
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 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.
What is essential in war is victory, not prolonged operations.
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.
A leader leads by example not by force.
The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
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