"Know thy enemy and know thy self and you will win a hundred battles."
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Quote collection
Sun Tzu quotes (page 10 of 23)
450 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant."
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"Without harmony in the State, no military expedition can be undertaken; without harmony in the army, no battle array can be formed."
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"One who sets the entire army in motion to chase an advantage will not attain it."
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"If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual."
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"Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals."
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"Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces, the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities."
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"Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another ten times its size, the result will be the flight of the former."
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"An army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness."
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"The enemy's spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out, tempted with bribes, led away and comfortably housed. Thus they will become double agents and available for our service. It is through the information brought by the double agent that we are able to acquire and employ local and inward spies. It is owing to his information, again, that we can cause the doomed spy to carry false tidings to the enemy."
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"Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace; divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is master of his enemy's fate."
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"What is of the greatest importance in war is extraordinary speed: One cannot afford to neglect opportunity."
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"When your opponent gives you an opening, be swift as a hare."
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"Thus the skilful general conducts his army just as though he were leading a single man, willy-nilly, by the hand."
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"Defeat the enemies strategy."
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"They [spies] cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness."
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"If asked how to cope with a great host of the enemy in orderly array and on the point of marching to the attack, I should say: "Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will." Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots."
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"The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose."
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"There is nothing more difficult than tactical maneuvering. The difficult consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain. Thus, to take a long and circuitous route after enticing the enemy out of the way, and though starting after him to contrive to reach the goal before him, shows knowledge of the artifice of deviation."
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"The natural formation of the country is the soldier's best ally"
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