89 quotes found
“To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy's numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.”
“Be stern in the council-chamber, [Show no weakness, and insist on your plans being ratified by the sovereign.] so that you may control the situation.”
“At first, then, exhibit the coyness of a maiden, until the enemy gives you an opening; afterwards emulate the rapidity of a running hare, and it will be too late for the enemy to oppose you.”
“Ground on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is desperate ground.”
“When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance to meet it in mid-stream. It will be best to let half the army get across, and then deliver your attack.”
“Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”
“Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive,knowing yourself enables you to stand onthe defensive.”
“If his forces are united, separate them.”
“who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits”
“do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat”
“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.”
“The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.”
“These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.”
“So long as victory can be attained, stupid haste is preferable to clever dilatoriness.”
“A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return.”
“Know the enemy, know yourself and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles.”
“There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:(1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction;(2) cowardice, which leads to capture;(3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;(4...”
“Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.”
“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 kn...”
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”
