Quotes About Foresight

We don't know what's around the corner - and we must do everything to ensure we get our country's debts down, building our resilience so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past.

You cannot fight against the future. Time is on our side.

Leaders don't look behind; they don't look to the side - they look ahead.

We can do things the cheap way, the simple way, for the short-term and without regard for the future. Or, we can make the extra effort, do the hard work, absorb the criticism and make decisions that will cause a better future.

Figure out where you want to go; then work backwards from there.

What fascinates me about the character of Alexander the Great is that he seemed to see the future with such clarity and such intensity as to make it virtually impossible that it would not come true—and that he would be the one to make it so.

How do we make long-term thinking automatic and common instead of difficult and rare? How do we make the taking of long-term responsibility inevitable?

All buildings are predictions. All predictions are wrong.

We seem trapped in the Short Now. The present generation enjoys the greatest power in history, but it appears to have the shortest vision in history. That combination is lethal.

Why is it that other people's plans so often seem ill thought out while our own make so much sense? I

He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.

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.

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

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

Every battle is won before it's ever fought.

Be where your enemy is not.

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 thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.

Foreknowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits, cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions of the enemy.

Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.

do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat

Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose.

Deep knowledge is to be aware of disturbance before disturbance, to be aware of danger before danger, to be aware of destruction before destruction, to be aware of calamity before calamity. Strong action is training the body without being burdened by the body, exercising the mind without being used by the mind, working in the world without being affected by the world, carrying out tasks without being obstructed by tasks.

Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.