Quotes About Strategy

Those who seek to achieve things should show no mercy. Kautilya, Indian philosopher third century B.C.

The wise man profits more from his enemies, than a fool from his friends. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)

Woe unto the statesman," he said, "who makes war without a reason that will still be valid when the war is over!

The ability to measure people and to know who you're dealing with is the most important skill of all in gathering and conserving power. Without it you are blind: Not only will you offend the wrong people, you will choose the wrong types to work on, and will think you are flattering people when you are actually insulting them.

Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.

Once you step into a fight that is not of your own choosing, you lose all initiative. The combatants' interests becomes your interests; you become their tool. Learn to control yourself, to restrain your natural tendency to take sides and join the fight. Be friendly and charming to each of the combatants, then step back as they collide. With every battle they grow weaker, while you grow stronger with every battle you avoid.

People who accuse you of being unfair, for example, who try to make you feel guilty, who talk about justice and morality, are trying to gain an advantage on the chessboard.

A good strategy to utilize is to see through the front they project. They inevitably try to cast a larger-than-life image, a mythic, intimidating quality; but in fact they are all too human, full of the same insecurities and weaknesses we all possess. Try to recognize these very human traits and demythologize them.

it does sometimes happen that it is better to let your enemies destroy themselves, if such a thing is possible, than to make them suffer by your hand.

Never make it too clear what you are doing or about to do.

patience ... the principal requirement in the art of timing.

You may have brilliant ideas, you may be able to invent unbeatable strategies—but if the group that you lead, and that you depend on to execute your plans, is unresponsive and uncreative, and if its members always put their personal agendas first, your ideas will mean nothing. You must learn the lesson of war: it is the structure of the army—the chain of command and the relationship of the parts to the whole—that will give your strategies force.

Timidity has no place in the realm of power; you will often benefit, however, by being able to feign it. At that point, of course, it is no longer timidity but an offensive weapon: You are luring people in with your show of shyness, all the better to pounce on them boldly later.

This military model is extremely adaptable to any group. It has one simple requirement: before formulating a strategy or taking action, understand the structure of your group. You can always change it and redesign it to fit your purposes.

Only the weak rest on their laurels and dote on past triumphs; in the game of power there is never time to rest.

One master said, "He doesn't just look for the best move. He looks for the move that will disturb the man he is playing.

Elevate yourself above the battlefield.

Most men are ruled by the heart, not the head. Their plans are vague, and when they meet obstacles they improvise. But improvisation will only bring you as far as the next crisis, and is never a substitute for thinking several steps ahead and planning to the end.

If you have no enemies, find a way to make them

Spiritualize your warfare.

Do not show all your cards. An air of mystery heightens your presence; it also creates anticipation.

Por esto, cuando he conseguido una victoria, no vuelvo a emplear la misma táctica otra vez, sino que, respondiendo a las circunstancias, varío mis métodos hasta el infinito. —Sun-tzu (siglo IV a.C.).

These types, for example, will often display their weakness and lack of power as a kind of moral virtue. But true powerlessness, without any motive of self-interest, would not publicize its weakness to gain sympathy or respect. Making a show of one's weakness is actually a very effective strategy, subtle and deceptive, in the game of power

Image: The Thumbscrew. Your enemy has secrets that he guards, thinks thoughts he will not reveal. But they come out in ways he cannot help. It is there some where, a groove of weakness on his head, at his heart, over his belly. Once you find the groove, put your thumb in it and turn him at will.