Quotes About Strategy

De ahí el dicho: conoce al enemigo y conócete a ti mismo, y sobre tu victoria no caerán dudas; conoce el Cielo y la Tierra, y tu victoria estará asegurada del todo.

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.

What is perhaps most characteristically Taoist about The Art of War in such a way as to recommend itself to the modern day is the manner in which power is continually tempered by a profound undercurrent of humanism.

16. While we keep away from such places, we should get the enemy to approach them; while we face them, we should let the enemy have them on his rear.

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.

El arte de la guerra se basa en el engaño

La invencibilidad está en uno mismo, la vulnerabilidad en el adversario. Por esto, los guerreros expertos pueden ser invencibles, pero no pueden hacer que sus adversarios sean vulnerables.

LI QUAN If they ply you with expensive gifts and sweet talk, they are up to something.

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

Sun Tzu said: If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame.

Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline, simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.

Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) Entangling ground;               (3) Temporizing ground;               (4) Narrow passes; (5) Precipitous heights; (6) Positions at a great distance from the enemy.

Hence it is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for purposes of spying and thereby they achieve great results. Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army's ability to move.

Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy.

All men can see the individual tactics necessary to conquer, but almost no one can see the strategy out of which total victory is evolved.

Therefore soldiers must be treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept under control by means of iron discipline. This is a certain road to victory.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. [Chang Yu said: "Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive.

The reason troops slay the enemy is because they are enraged.

More planning shall give greater possibility of victory while less planning, lesser possibility of victory. So how about those without planning?

The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin.

Know thy enemy

When Sun Tzu spoke of victory, this is what he meant—the prevention or quick resolution of conflict, not the conquering of your opponent.

When Lionel Giles began his translation of Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR, the work was virtually unknown in Europe. Its introduction to Europe began in 1782 when a French Jesuit Father living in China, Joseph Amiot, acquired a copy of it, and translated it into French. It was not a good translation because, according to Dr. Giles, [I]t contains a great deal that Sun Tzu did not write, and very little indeed of what he did. The first translation into English was published

For Sun Tzu, the fundamental mechanism to ending conflict is to achieve a massive imbalance of power and resources over your opponent, and then to leverage that imbalance so skillfully and decisively that your foe is utterly overwhelmed and chooses to surrender rather than fight.