Quotes About Conflict

A friend of mine was working with an international NGO in a refugee camp in Bangladesh in 2017 when she noticed something odd: there were children older than five and younger than two, but very few two- to five-year-olds. It was, she discovered, because when the Rohingya fled from the army and the militias, children of that generation couldn't run as fast as the older ones and were too heavy to be held by their parents. They fell behind, and the soldiers advanced on them with machetes.

It is not a Buddhist approach to say that if everyone practiced Buddhism, the world would be a better place. Wars and oppression begin from this kind of thinking.

To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.

If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result is victory, then you must not fight, even at the ruler's bidding.

All war is based on deception.

If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him.

There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited.

Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

All war is deception.

Sweat more during peace: bleed less during war

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected .

There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.

When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.

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. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.

Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.

To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable. The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy.

Niceness is not fairness. Peace (or the absence of open conflict) is not justice. Comfort is not guaranteed. Until we dismantle this system, we will insist, in words and actions: Change is necessary.

I longed for the Confederate flags of the South, because at least the South had clear lines of demarcation and warning. In Minnesota, there were only smiling faces, open classroom doors, and a stinging persistent coldness that let me know that I was in a new, different place that wasn't really welcoming—and that this place was resistant to me calling it home.