Quotes About Combat

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.

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.

Those skilled at making the enemy move do so by creating a situation to which he must conform; they entice him with something he is certain to take, and with lures of ostensible profit they await him in strength.

Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack.

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.

The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

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

Supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

All warfare is based on deception.

In difficult ground, press on; In encircled ground, devise stratagems; In death ground, fight.

Sun Tzu said: The art of war recognises nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) facile ground; (3) contentious ground; (4) open ground; (5) ground of intersecting highways; (6) serious ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemmed-in ground; (9) desperate ground.

Ground on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is desperate ground.

Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered, those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before they fight, while the ignorant fight to win.

Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

The best military policy is to attack strategies; the next to attack alliances; the next to attack soldiers.

El arte de la guerra se basa en el engaño. Por lo tanto, cuando es capaz de atacar, ha de aparentar incapacidad; cuando las trampas se mueven, aparentar inactividad.

In a similar way, The Art of War pinpoints anger and greed as fundamental causes of defeat.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

I have heard that the ancients used bows and arrows to their advantage.

Do not press a desperate enemy.

Violent language and driving forward as if to the attack are signs that he will retreat.