Born in 496 BC, Sun Tzu was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer and philosopher. He lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China.
Sun Tzu is the author of The Art of War, an influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thinking.
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Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.
Sun Tzu
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
Sun Tzu
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.
Sun Tzu
Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive.
Sun Tzu
When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.
Sun Tzu
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
Sun Tzu
In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.
Sun Tzu
Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.
Sun Tzu
For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.
Sun Tzu
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Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
Sun Tzu
The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.
Sun Tzu
Using order to deal with the disorderly, using calm to deal with the clamorous, is mastering the heart.
Sun Tzu
The skilful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man.
Sun Tzu
Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and sternness.
Sun Tzu
The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not to be swayed by petty doubts.
Sun Tzu
He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
Sun Tzu
Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you; this will diminish his enthusiasm.
Sun Tzu
Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems.
Sun Tzu
Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?
Sun Tzu
The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
Sun Tzu
The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.
Sun Tzu
Do not engage an enemy more powerful than you. And if it is unavoidable and you do have to engage, then make sure you engage it on your terms, not on your enemy’s terms.
Sun Tzu
Every animal with blood in its veins and horns on its head will fight when it is attacked.
Sun Tzu
If the enemy know not where he will be attacked, he must prepare in every quarter, and so be everywhere weak.
Sun Tzu
It is more important to out-think your enemy, than to outfight him.
Sun Tzu
If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.
Sun Tzu
Keep your friends close, your enemies even closer.
Sun Tzu
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Sun Tzu
Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of the trigger.
Sun Tzu
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Sun Tzu
Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.
Sun Tzu
Those skilled in warfare move the enemy, and are not moved by the enemy.
Sun Tzu
Let your plans be dark and as impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
Sun Tzu
If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.
Sun Tzu
All war is deception.
Sun Tzu
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
Sun Tzu
The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.
Sun Tzu
If the mind is willing, the flesh could go on and on without many things.
Sun Tzu
Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.
Sun Tzu
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.
Sun Tzu
A wise general makes a point of foraging of the enemy.
Sun Tzu
The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
Sun Tzu
All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
Sun Tzu
The peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict unnecessary.
Sun Tzu
The line between disorder and order lies in logistics.
Sun Tzu
The victorious army is victorious first and seeks battle later; the defeated army seeks battle first and seeks victory later.
Sun Tzu
When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.
Sun Tzu
Who wishes to fight must first count the cost.
Sun Tzu
He wins his battles by making no mistakes.
Sun Tzu
There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare.
Sun Tzu
Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
Sun Tzu
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
Sun Tzu
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
Sun Tzu
Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain.
Sun Tzu
Do not press an enemy at bay.
Sun Tzu
If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.
Sun Tzu
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
Sun Tzu
You have to believe in yourself.
Sun Tzu
When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.
Sun Tzu
Sweat more during peace: bleed less during war.
Sun Tzu
Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength.
Sun Tzu
The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
Sun Tzu
If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.
Sun Tzu
One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.
Sun Tzu
If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
Sun Tzu
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.
Sun Tzu
Those who win every battle are not really skilful—those who render others’ armies helpless without fighting are the best of all.
Sun Tzu
If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.
Sun Tzu
Know the enemy, know yourself and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles.
Sun Tzu
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.
Sun Tzu
All warfare is based on deception.
Sun Tzu
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Sun Tzu
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
Sun Tzu
The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
Sun Tzu
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Sun Tzu
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