Quotes About Strategy

Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you; this will diminish his enthusiasm

Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.

If quick, I survive. If not quick, I am lost. This is death.

Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive.

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

Bravery without forethought, causes a man to fight blindly and desperately like a mad bull.  Such an opponent, must not be encountered with brute force, but may be lured into an ambush and slain.

mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy

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

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.

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) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame; (5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.

He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

Plan for what it is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small.

Every battle is won before it's ever fought.

If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.

Be where your enemy is not.

Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will.

If his forces are united, separate them.

Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.

The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.

Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster

the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results.

Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.

who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits