Great Throughts Treasury

"Know your enemy and know yourself, find naught in fear for 100 battles. Know yourself but not your enemy, find level of loss and victory. Know thy enemy but not yourself, wallow in defeat every time."

"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 even having to fight them."

"All warfare is based upon deception."

"Rapidity is the essence of war."

"War is based on deception."

"The art of using troops is this: ...When ten to the enemy's one, surround him; ...When five times his strength, attack him; ...If double his strength, divide him; ...If equally matched you may engage him; ...If weaker numerically, be capable of withdrawing; ...And if in all respects unequal, be capable of eluding him, ...for a small force is but booty for one more powerful."

"A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life."

"A wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store."

"According to my assessment, even if you have many more troops than others, how can that help you to victory?"

"A leader leads by example not by force."

"A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation and does not demand it of his subordinates."

"A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective."

"All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved."

"All warfare is based on deception. A skilled general must be master of the complementary arts of simulation and dissimulation; while creating shapes to confuse and delude the enemy he conceals his true dispositions and ultimate intent. When capable he feigns incapacity; when near he makes it appear that he is far away; when far away; that he is near. Moving as intangibly as a ghost in the starlight, he is obscure, inaudible. His primary target is the mind of the opposing commander; the victorious situation, a product of his creative imagination. Attacking the mind of the enemy is an indispensable preliminary to battle."

"All warfare is based on deception. There is no place where espionage is not used. Offer the enemy bait to lure him."

"And therefore those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him."

"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."

"All war is deception."

"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak."

"An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked."

"Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with your enemy."

"Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."

"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."

"Appraise war in terms of the fundamental factors. The first of these factors is moral influence."

"Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs… use the conquered foe to augment one's own strength."

"Bestow rewards without regard to rule, issue orders without regard to previous arrangements; and you will be able to handle a whole army as though you had to do with but a single man."

"Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory."

"Do not interfere with an army that is returning home. When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard."

"Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across."

"Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?"

"Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment - that which they cannot anticipate."

"Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust."

"Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger."

"For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards."

"For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."

"Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals."

"He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them."

"He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious."

"He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign."

"He who wishes to fight must first count the cost. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be dampened. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor dampened, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue... In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns."

"Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack."

"Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

"If asked how to cope with a great host of the enemy in orderly array and on the point of marching to the attack, I should say: Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will. Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots."

"Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."

"If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him."

"If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is of choleric temper, 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 fighting is sure to result in victory, than you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding."

"If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity."

"If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril."