"When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce."
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Quote collection
Sun Tzu quotes (page 16 of 23)
450 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"When the general is weak and without authority; when his orders are not clear and distinct; when there are no fixed duties assigned to officers and men, and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner, the result is utter disorganization."
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"Be where your enemy is not."
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"Rewards for good service should not be deferred a single day."
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"The height of strategy, is to attack your opponent's strategy."
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"Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you."
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"The supreme excellence is not to win a hundred victories in a hundred battles. The supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies without having to fight them."
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"When you shoot a bow and arrow, you aim at the clouds, not because you expect to hit them, but so that you may reach the distant target on the ground."
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"The successful person has unusual skill at dealing with conflict and ensuring the best outcome for all."
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"Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home."
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"When the enemy is at ease, be able to weary him; when well fed, to starve him; when at rest, to make him move. Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you."
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"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."
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"Use humility to make the enemy haughty. Tire them by flight. Cause division among them. When they are unprepared, attack and make your move when they do not expect it."
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"The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy"
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"In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them."
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"Therefore I say: know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril."
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"Invincibility depends on one's self; the enemy's vulnerability on him."
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"There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefitted."
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"To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable. The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy."
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"With regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies. Then you will be able to fight with advantage."
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