Quotes About Leadership

The Giles' edition of the ART OF WAR, as stated above, was a scholarly work.

dilatoriness.

The skilled can fill their people with energy to confront the emptiness of others, while the incompetent drain their people of energy in face of the fullness of others.

You will not succeed unless your men have tenacity and unity of purpose, and above all, a spirit of sympathetic cooperation.

Invincibility depends on one's self; the enemy's vulnerability on him. It follows that those skilled in war can make themselves invincible but cannot cause an enemy to be certainly vulnerable. Therefore it is said that one may know how to win, but cannot necessarily do so.

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.

The wise general in his deliberations must consider both favorable and unfavorable factors. He ponders the dangers inherent in the advantages, and the advantages inherent in the dangers. By taking into account the favorable factors, he makes his plan feasible; by taking into account the unfavorable, he may resolve the difficulties. Advantage and disadvantage are mutually reproductive. The enlightened deliberate.

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. No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.

Najwy?szym osi?gni?ciem jest pokonanie wroga bez stoczenia z nim walki.

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war.

The general is the protector of the state. If this protection is all-embracing, the state will surely be strong; if defective, the state will certainly be weak. A sovereign who obtains the right person prospers. One who fails to do so will be ruined.

14.  By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat. 15.  The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer:—let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:—let such a one be dismissed!

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. 26. If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind-hearted, but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable, moreover, of quelling disorder: then your soldiers must be likened to spoilt children; they are useless for any practical purpose.

mountain. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.

the wise leader's plans, considerations of advantage and of disadvantage will be blended together.

purposely ignored by him. [16] Tu Mu's conjecture seems to be based

to concentrate or to divide your troops, must be decided by circumstances.      17. Let your rapidity be that of the wind, [The simile is doubly

He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain

The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven.

Si nous voulons que la gloire et les succès accompagnent nos armes, nous ne devons jamais perdre de vue : la doctrine, le temps, l'espace, le commandement, la discipline.

such astonishing rapidity that he was able to occupy a commanding position on the North hill before the enemy had

On ne saurait tenir les troupes longtemps en campagne, sans porter un très grand préjudice à l'État et sans donner une atteinte mortelle à sa propre réputation.

Donde haya montículos y terraplenes, sitúate en su lado soleado, manteniéndolos siempre a tu derecha y detrás.

Après un premier avantage, n'allez pas vous endormir ou vouloir donner à vos troupes un repos hors de saison. Poussez votre pointe avec la même rapidité qu'un torrent qui se précipiterait de mille toises de haut. Que votre ennemi n'ait pas le temps de se reconnaître, et ne pensez à recueillir les fruits de votre victoire que lorsque sa défaite entière vous aura mis en état de le faire sûrement, avec loisir et tranquillité.