A wooden signpost on a round sandy tray with green plants on one side and dark cracked earth on the other.

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The Art of War

Sun Tzu

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.

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What it means

Our interpretation.

This opens by stressing that war is deeply important to a state because it decides survival: a matter of life and death, and a road to either safety or ruin. It frames the subject as something to be studied seriously rather than treated lightly.

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