List Of 100 Sun Tzu Quotes From The Art of War:
#1 “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.”
#2 “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.”
#3 “What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.”
#4 “Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack.”
#5 “Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive.”
#6 “It is the unemotional, reserved, calm, detached warrior who wins, not the hothead seeking vengeance and not the ambitious seeker of fortune.”
#7 “The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.”
#8 “Danger has a bracing effect.”
#9 “A leader leads by example not by force.”
#10 “So long as victory can be attained, stupid haste is preferable to clever dilatoriness.”
#11 “The art of war is of vital importance to the State.”
#12 “All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.”
#13 “One may know how to conquer without being able to do it. ”
#14 “Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”
#15 “Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy’s fate in our hands.”
#16 “A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return. This is the art of studying moods.”
#17 “Excessive rewards are a sign of desperation. Excessive punishments are a sign of exhaustion.”
#18 “To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy’s numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.”
#19 “All warfare is based on deception.”
#20 “Bravery without forethought, causes a man to fight blindly and desperately like a mad bull. Such an opponent, must not be encountered with brute force, but may be lured into an ambush and slain.”
#21 “Whether in an advantageous position or a disadvantageous one, the opposite state should be always present to your mind.”
#22 “On open ground, do not try to block the enemy’s way. On the ground of intersecting highways, join hands with your allies.”
#23 “Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will.”
#24 “If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.”
#25 “Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.”
#26 “There are not more than five primary colours, yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen.”
#27 “Ground on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is desperate ground.”
#28 “When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardour will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.”
#29 “He who relies solely on warlike measures shall be exterminated; he who relies solely on peaceful measures shall perish.”
#30 “When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy.”
#31 “If his forces are united, separate them.”
#32 “There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.”
#33 “When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is INSUBORDINATION.”
#34 “The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage which all must reach.”
#35 “He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.”
#36 “Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.”
#37 “It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results.”
#38 “We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.”
#39 “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.”
#40 “Great results, can be achieved with small forces.”
#41 “Mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy.”
#42 “Stir opponents up, making them respond to you; then you can observe their forms of behavior, and whether they are orderly or confused.”
#43 “The rising of birds in their flight is the sign of an ambuscade.”
#44 “I have heard that in war haste can be folly, but have never seen delay that was wise.”
#45 “Conform to the enemy’s tactics until a favorable opportunity offers; then come forth and engage in a battle that shall prove decisive.”
#46 “Some people think insufficiency means weakness and surplus means strength, but this impression is wrong.”
#47 “The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points;”
#48 “Some people think insufficiency means weakness and surplus means strength, but this impression is wrong.”
#49 “Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”
#50 “Those skilled at making the enemy move do so by creating a situation to which he must conform; they entice him with something he is certain to take, and with lures of ostensible profit they await him in strength.”
#51 “It is easy to love your friend, but sometimes the hardest lesson to learn is to love your enemy.”
#52 “Those who celebrate victory are bloodthirsty, and the bloodthirsty cannot have their way with the world.”
#53 “Weapons are inauspicious instruments, not the tools of the enlightened.”
#54 “The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.”
#55 “The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.”
#56 “If there is disturbance in the camp, the general’s authority is weak. ”
#57 “Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.”
#58 “The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.”
#59 “The only chance of life lies in giving up all hope of it.”
#60 “If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.”
#61 “If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.”
#62 “Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.”
#63 “Take heed. Do not squander your life.”
#64 ” Each of us should strive to awaken, awaken. Awaken!”
#65 “Time passes swiftly by and opportunity is lost.”
#66 “Foreknowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits, cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions of the enemy.”
#67 “Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.”
#68 “Life and death are of supreme importance.”
#69 “You must be swift as the wind, dense as the forest, rapacious as fire, steadfast like a mountain, mysterious as night and mighty as thunder.”
#70 “Humble words and increased preparations are signs that the enemy is about to advance.”
#71 “Conceal your dispositions, and your condition will remain secret, which leads to victory; show your dispositions, and your condition will become patent, which leads to defeat.”
#72 “If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame.”
#73 “Anger can revert to joy, wrath can revert to delight, but a nation destroyed cannot be restored to existence, and the dead cannot be restored to life.”
#74 “Plan for what it is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small.”
#75 “The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.”
#76 “It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”
#77 “If we wish to wrest an advantage from the enemy, we must not fix our minds on that alone, but allow for the possibility of the enemy also doing some harm to us, and let this enter as a factor into our calculations.”
#78 “When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away…”
#79 “You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.”
#80 “If you fight with all your might, there is a chance of life; where as death is certain if you cling to your corner.”
#81 “You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.”
#82 “Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy’s purpose.”
#83 “He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.”
#84 “The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.”
#85 “Rewards for good service should not be deferred a single day.”
#86 “Disorder came from order, fear came from courage, weakness came from strength.”
#87 “If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.”
#88 “The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”
#89 “The wise warrior avoids the battle.”
#90 “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.”
#91 “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”
#92 “When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.”
#93 “When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.”
#94 “Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.”
#95 “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
#96 “Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
#97 “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”
#98 “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
#99 “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
#100 “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”