"With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up."
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Quote collection
Sun Tzu quotes (page 15 of 23)
450 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Set the troops to their tasks without imparting your designs."
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"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."
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"Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources."
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"It is imperative to contest all factions for complete victory, so the army is not garrisoned and the profit can be total. This is the law of strategic siege."
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"In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory."
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"Whoever is the first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh for the fight... Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy... By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near."
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"If this is long delayed, weapons are blunted and morale depressed."
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"Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move."
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"Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder is simply a question of subdivision; concealing courage under a show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy; masking strength with weakness is to be effected by tactical dispositions."
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"The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success."
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"The general must be the first in the toils and fatigues of the army. In the heat of summer he does not spread his parasol nor in the cold of winter don thick clothing. In dangerous places he must dismount and walk. He waits until the army's wells have been dug and only then drinks; until the army's food is cooked before he eats; until the army's fortifications have been completed, to shelter himself."
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"Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never peril."
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"Therefore the victories of good warriors are not noted for cleverness or bravery. Therefore their victories in battle are not flukes. Their victories are not flukes because they position themselves where they will surely win, prevailing over those wh."
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"War is a matter of vital importance to the state; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied."
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"In warfare, first lay plans which will ensure victory, and then lead your army to battle; if you will not begin with stratagem but rely on brute strength alone, victory will no longer be assured."
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"To maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished."
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"To perceive victory when it is known to all is not really skilful... It does not take much strength to lift a hair, it does not take sharp eyes to see the sun and moon, it does not take sharp ears to hear the thunderclap."
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"If I am able to determine the enemy's dispositions while at the same time I conceal my own, then I can concentrate and he must divide."
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"In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more."
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