Quotes About Tactics

People trying to make a show of their authority are easily deceived by the surrender tactic. Your outward sign of submission makes them feel important; satisfied that you respect them, they become easier targets for a later counterattack

What gets us into trouble in the realm of power is often our own overreaction to the moves of our enemies and rivals.

The essence of strategy is not to carry out a brilliant plan that proceeds in steps. It is to put yourself in situations where you have more options than your enemy does...True strategy is being able to do strategy A, B, or C, depending on the circumstances.

this often neutralizes their behavior—they expected, even wanted you to react with force and so they are caught off-guard and confounded by your lack of resistance.

In the battle of the intelligent against the brutal and the aggressive, the surrender tactic is the supreme weapon.

Deception is a developed art of civilization and the most potent weapon in the game of power.

Aprende a ejercer el hechizo del en- cantador apuntando a las debilidades primarias de la gente: vanidad y amor propio.

Your idea of power is wrong. You have mistaken aggressive action for effective action.

Perfect economy, then, does not mean hoarding your resources. That is not economy but stinginess—deadly in war. Perfect economy means finding a golden mean, a level at which your blows count but do not wear you out.

Nunca dividía a su ejército en unidades menores, ya que eso infringiría el principio militar de mantener concentradas las fuerzas; además, dispersarlas dificultaría su monitoreo, y se perdería el control de la batalla.

Al comenzar, no debe ha- ber nada seductor en tu actitud. La seducción ha de iniciarse desde un ángulo, indirectamente, para que el objetivo  se percate de ti en forma gra- dual.

una vez que hayas elegido a la persona correcta, debes hacer que el objetivo venga a ti. Si en etapas iniciales logras hacerle creer que es él quien realiza el primer acercamiento, has ganado el juego.

Keep withdrawing, surprising, and stimulating the chase. As long as you do, you have the power.

frente a los agresivos, retírate, déjalos conseguir sus pequeñas victorias.

entre más se relaje el objetivo, más fácil te será inclinarlo a tu voluntad.

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

When your own reputation is solid, use subtler tactics, such as satire and ridicule, to weaken your opponent while making you out as a charming rogue.

The Laws will teach you how to identify these types in advance, which is your greatest defense against them.

Chess contains the concentrated essence of life: First, because to win you have to be supremely patient and farseeing; and second, because the game is built on patterns, whole sequences of moves that have been played before and will be played again

In searching, as you must, for the methods that will gain you the most power for the least effort, you will find the creation of a cultlike following one of the most effective.

Sometimes, however, it is better to play the most capricious, unpredictable move.

Use this tactic in the following manner: Hide your intentions not by closing up (with the risk of appearing secretive, and making people suspicious) but by talking endlessly about your desires and goals—just not your real ones. You will kill three birds with one stone: You appear friendly, open, and trusting; you conceal your intentions; and you send your rivals on time-consuming wild-goose chases.

Robert Greene

Wage guerrilla war on your mind, allowing no static lines of defense, no exposed citadels—make everything fluid and mobile.