If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected .
preparation security strategy tactics war

About This Quote

About Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu was Chinese general (544–496 bc). Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, a Classical Chinese text on military strategy from the Warring States period, though the earliest parts of the work probably date to at least a century after him. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • War — Reflections on conflict, peace, and the human cost of war

More quotes by Sun Tzu

“Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.”
— Sun Tzu
philosophy thought-provoking war

“To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.”
— Sun Tzu
enemy sun-tzu war

“One mark of a great soldier is that he fight on his own terms or fights not at all.”
— Sun Tzu
fight sun-tzu war

“When one treats people with benevolence, justice, and righteoousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders'.”
— Sun Tzu
strategy war

“Be where your enemy is not.”
— Sun Tzu
enemy inspirational sun-tzu war

“One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful, subduing the other's military without battle is the most skillful.”
— Sun Tzu
battle war wisdom
View all quotes by Sun Tzu →

Related Quotes

“If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow a...”
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
preparation security strategy tactics

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
— Benjamin Franklin
preparation prevention proverb wisdom

“The Wise are Superb Observers of Nature and Rise Superior to the Blows of Fortune”
— Philo of Alexandria
preparation wisdom

“Copying Juvvens gaze over the treetops at the edge of the shooting range, he saw the fields of Flanders before his inner eye. Yes, the wide horizon The memory made the corners of his mouth curl sli...”
— Bealevon Nolan, A Night Sky Full of Stars
security sky stars war

“Jed thought he understood. It was like when his radios were thrown away. You could shrug your shoulders, put on a face that said you didn't care, but you did and nothing could ever be secure again....”
— Rupert Thomson, The Five Gates of Hell
security trust

“What you're looking for is already inside you. You've heard this before, but the holy thing inside you really is that which causes you to seek it. You can't buy it, lease it, rent it, date it, or a...”
— Anne Lamott
security seeking spirit strive

“When one treats people with benevolence, justice, and righteoousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders'.”
— Sun Tzu
strategy war

“Never send a battalion to take a hill if a regiment is available.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower
strategy war

“Camouflage doesn't help when the other guy is willing to defoliate the whole jungle.”
— Andrew Vachss
strategy war