Quotes About Tactics

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

It is not the best thing to win every battle one is engaged in; the best thing is to win without planning to win. This is perfect victory.

The Giles' edition of the ART OF WAR, as stated above, was a scholarly work.

Triunfa el que elabora una táctica para conseguirlo, aprovecha su oportunidad, acepta sus debilidades y reconoce sus fortalezas.

dilatoriness.

When you surround an army, leave an outlet free.

65. If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in.

Si vos ennemis sont plus puissants et plus forts que vous, vous ne les attaquerez point, vous éviterez avec un grand soin ce qui peut conduire à un engagement général ; vous cacherez toujours avec une extrême attention l'état où vous vous trouverez.

Invincibility depends on one's self; the enemy's vulnerability on him. It follows that those skilled in war can make themselves invincible but cannot cause an enemy to be certainly vulnerable. Therefore it is said that one may know how to win, but cannot necessarily do so.

Bestow rewards without regard to rule, issue orders without regard to previous arrangements, and you will be able to handle a whole army as though you had to do with but a single man.