All warfare is based on deception.
Sun Tzu
The Art of War is roughly 2,500 years old, short enough to read in an afternoon, and quoted in every boardroom on earth. Whether Sun Tzu existed as a single historical general is genuinely debated; what is certain is that half the lines attributed to him are modern inventions. 'If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by' -- not in the book. 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer' -- that is The Godfather Part II. The genuine passages here follow Lionel Giles's 1910 public-domain translation with chapter numbers on the label, and the business-book favorites that never appear in the text are flagged accordingly.
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.
Sun Tzu
Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
Sun Tzu
Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.
Sun Tzu
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
Sun Tzu
To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
Sun Tzu
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Sun Tzu
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Sun Tzu
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
Sun Tzu
Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.
Sun Tzu
To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
Sun Tzu
The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.
Sun Tzu
The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
Sun Tzu
In war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
Sun Tzu
Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
Sun Tzu
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
Sun Tzu
Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.
Sun Tzu
If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding.
Sun Tzu
Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.
Sun Tzu
Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.
Sun Tzu
If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.
Sun Tzu
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
Sun Tzu
Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
Sun Tzu
In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.
Sun Tzu
Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.
Sun Tzu