Books
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
— Sun Tzu • The Art of War
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The advice is to keep one's plans utterly hidden, as dark and impossible to see into as night. Then, when the moment to act comes, the move should land suddenly and with overwhelming force, like a thunderbolt. Secrecy beforehand and shock in the moment are meant to work together.
Context reviewed