Quotes About Tactics

Secure the defense by defending unattacked.

Ten, kdo nabízí mír, aniž by si kladl jakýchkoli podmínek, chystá lest.

The enemy can be numerous, but we can stop the fight.

Speed is the essence of War. Exploit the enemy's unpreparedness; attack him unawares; take an unexpected route.

Without a full understanding of the harm caused by war, it is impossible to understand the most profitable way of conducting it

Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered. Know the ground, know the weather; your victory will then be total.

There are five traps for a general: recklessness, cowardice, incendiary character, refinement of honor and the care for his own people

The heading meansliterally The Nine Variations, but as SunTzu does not appear to enumerate these, and as, indeed, he hasalready told us (V SS. 6-11) that such deflections from theordinary course are practically innumerable, we have little optionbut to follow Wang Hsi, who says that Nine stands for anindefinitely large number.

In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.

preserved in the T`UNG TIEN, and another in Ho Shin's commentary. It is suggested that before his interview with Ho Lu, Sun Tzu had only written the 13 chapters, but afterwards composed a sort of exegesis in the form of question and answer between himself and the King. Pi I-hsun, the author of the SUN TZU HSU LU, backs this up with a quotation from the WU YUEH CH`UN CH`IU: The King

The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy.

War is a place of life and death, a path towards survival and destruction.

Una operación militar implica engaño. Aunque seas competente, aparenta ser incompetente. Aunque seas efectivo, muéstrate ineficaz.

Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.

Every commander is aware of this five fundamental determinants: the path, the heaven, the earth, the leadership and discipline

Those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him. One able to make the enemy come of his own accord does so by offering him some advantage. And one able to prevent him from coming does so by hurting him. If you are able to hold critical points on his strategic roads the enemy cannot come. Therefore Master Wang said: 'When a cat is at the rat hole, ten thousand rats dare not come out; when a tiger guards the ford, ten thousand deer cannot cross.

of Turenne, deception of the enemy, especially as to the numerical strength of his troops, took a

cited by Pi I-hsun, we may see in this theory a probable solution of the mystery. Between Ssu-ma Ch`ien and

Tzu except the 82 P`IEN, whereas the Sui and T`ang bibliographies give the titles of others in addition to the 13 chapters, is good proof, Pi I-hsun thinks, that all of these were contained in the 82 P`IEN. Without

6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

He who only sees the obvious, wins his battles with difficulty; he who looks below the surface of things, wins with ease.

very well represent a collected edition of these lumped together with the original work. It is also possible

All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved

Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army's ability to move.