Quotes About Sun Tzu

#1. Sun Tzu does not need my praise. His work has lived for over two thousand years, and will surely live for another two thousand without any help from me.

Martin Van Creveld

#2. When Lionel Giles began his translation of Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR, the work was virtually unknown in Europe. Its introduction to Europe began in 1782 when a French Jesuit Father living in China, Joseph Amiot, acquired a copy of it, and translated

Sun Tzu

#3. In any case, it wouldn't affect the results at all, but that phrase the balance of power always sounds impressive in conversation, as if you'd been reading Clausewitz and Sun Tzu. I

Michel Houellebecq

#4. [There is less precision in the Chinese than I have thought it well to introduce into my translation, and the commentaries on the passage are by no means explicit. But, having regard to the context, we can hardly doubt that Sun Tzu is holding up I Chih and Lu Ya as illustrious

Sun Tzu

#5. The ref blew the whistle and the pack took off. The "jostling" from earlier had turned into a "melee" Sun Tzu would have been afraid of.

Shelly Laurenston

#6. The Chinese general Sun Tzu said that all war was based on deception. Oscar Wilde said the same thing of romance.

Marco Tempest

#7. In the future as in the past, both Clausewitz and Sun Tzu will undoubtedly have a lot to offer.

Martin Van Creveld

#8. The Sun Tzu School Ping-fa Directive.
Be strong and continually aware. Manage your strength and that of others. When essential, engage on your terms. Be observant, adaptive, and subtle. Do not lose control. Act decisively. Conclude quickly. Don't Fight!

David G. Jones

#9. I thought there was no use for me in reading Sun Tzu and Machiavelli because I am neither a warrior nor a politician, but it turned out to be useful when I married

Bangambiki Habyarimana

#10. First make yourself unbeatable, then go to war." -Sun Tzu

Phil Pierce

#11. It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle. - Sun Tzu

Siddhartha Mukherjee

#12. Remember Ping-fa, Sun Tzu,' Art of War - read between the lines: kick ass and take names later."

Mad
Stargirl

Linden Morningstar

#13. About Sun Tzu himself this is all that Ssu-ma Ch'ien has to tell us in this chapter. But he proceeds to give a biography of his descendant, Sun Pin, born about a hundred years after his famous ancestor's death, and also the outstanding military genius of his time.

Sun Tzu

#14. Solving large, difficult problems may earn you a reputation for skillful negotiation, but Sun Tzu asserts that this supposed achievement is actually a form of failure, and having true wisdom means preventing difficult problems from arising in the first place. Ironically,

Sun Tzu

#15. Sun Tzu Wu was a native of the Ch'i State. His Art of War brought him to the notice of Ho Lu, King of Wu. Ho Lu said to him: "I have carefully perused your 13 chapters. May I submit your theory of managing soldiers to a slight test?

Sun Tzu

#16. [I]t contains a great deal that Sun Tzu did not write, and very little indeed of what he did.

Sun Tzu

#17. Heller," he called after me. "I don't know what you have up your sleeve, but I suggest you not bother. Like Sun Tzu said: 'All battles are won or lost before they're fought.

Joseph Finder

#18. The reason why Sun Tzu at the head of 30,000 men beat Ch'u with 200,000 is that the latter were undisciplined." Teng

Sun Tzu

#19. Keep your friends close, Sun-Tzu had written. Your enemies closer.

Eric Van Lustbader

#20. Sun Tzu said: The art of war recognises nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) facile ground; (3) contentious ground; (4) open ground; (5) ground of intersecting highways; (6) serious ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemmed-in ground; (9) desperate ground.

Sun Tzu

#21. Malone kept listening, a saying from Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR spinning through his mind. When your enemy is in the process of destroying himself, stay out of the way.

Steve Berry

#22. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.

Sun Tzu

#23. Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) Entangling ground; (3) Temporizing ground; (4) Narrow passes; (5) Precipitous heights; (6) Positions at a great distance from the enemy.

Sun Tzu

#24. Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.

Sun Tzu

#25. The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

Sun Tzu

#26. There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen.

Sun Tzu

#27. He who is not sage and wise, humane and just, cannot use secret agent.s. And he who is not delicate and subtle cannot get the truth out of them.

Sun Tzu

#28. With regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies. Then you will be able to fight with advantage.

Sun Tzu

#29. If fighting is sure to result in victory, than 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

#30. Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

Sun Tzu

#31. When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food.

Sun Tzu

#32. Thus the skilful general conducts his army just as though he were leading a single man, willy-nilly, by the hand.

Sun Tzu

#33. If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.

Sun Tzu

#34. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy ... use the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.

Sun Tzu

#35. Supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

Sun Tzu

#36. You must be swift as the wind, dense as the forest, rapacious as fire, steadfast like a mountain, mysterious as night and mighty as thunder.

Sun Tzu

#37. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

Sun Tzu

#38. First lay plans which will ensure victory, and then lead your army to battle; if you will not begin with stratagem but rely on brute strength alone, victory will no longer be assured

Sun Tzu

#39. Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win

Sun Tzu

#40. Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

Sun Tzu

#41. Therefore the victories of good warriors are not noted for cleverness or bravery. Therefore their victories in battle are not flukes. Their victories are not flukes because they position themselves where they will surely win, prevailing over those wh.

Sun Tzu

#42. Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge.

Sun Tzu

#43. It is the rule in war, if ten times the enemy's strength, surround them; if five times, attack them; if double, be able to divide them; if equal, engage them; if fewer, be able to evade them; if weaker, be able to avoid them.

Sun Tzu

#44. There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.

Sun Tzu

#45. The successful person has unusual skill at dealing with conflict and ensuring the best outcome for all.

Sun Tzu

#46. Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.

Sun Tzu

#47. Rapidity is the essence of war.

Sun Tzu

#48. When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the commander-in-chief can tell whether or not he is in a position to fight, the result is ruin.

Sun Tzu

#49. If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.

Sun Tzu

#50. Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine

Sun Tzu

#51. Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.

Sun Tzu

#52. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

Sun Tzu

#53. This does not mean that the enemy is to be allowed to escape. The object is to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair. After that, you may crush him.

Sun Tzu

#54. And therefore those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him.

Sun Tzu

#55. Winning isn't enough. The acme of all skill is to defeat your enemy before taking the field.

Sun Tzu

#56. Know thy enemy and know thy self and you will win a hundred battles.

Sun Tzu

#57. In war, numbers alone confer no advantage. Do not advance relying on sheer military power.

Sun Tzu

#58. The value of time, that is of being a little ahead of your opponent, often provides greater advantage than superior numbers or greater resources.

Sun Tzu

#59. When two sides who consider each other enemies converge in armed struggle, for the moment they are no longer enemies. They are fellow human beings who face the same two choices that their ancestors did for centuries before them: to destroy each other or to prosper together.

Thomas Huynh

#60. Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.

Sun Tzu

#61. Attack where he is unprepared; sally forth when he does not expect you.

Sun Tzu

#62. The height of strategy, is to attack your opponent's strategy.

Sun Tzu

#63. he not honestly believed the contrary. And it is precisely on such a point that the judgment of an educated Chinaman will carry most weight. Other internal evidence is not far to seek. Thus in XIII. ss. 1, there is an unmistakable allusion to the ancient system

Sun Tzu

#64. The higher the sun ariseth, the less shadow doth he cast; even so the greater is the goodness, the less doth it covet praise; yet cannot avoid its rewards in honours.

Lao-Tzu

#65. Be where your enemy is not.

Sun Tzu

#66. One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful, subduing the other's military without battle is the most skillful.

Sun Tzu

#67. Keep your fiends close and your enemies even closer.

Sun Tzu

#68. [The superstitious, "bound in to saucy doubts and fears," degenerate into cowards and "die many times before their deaths.

Sun Tzu

#69. The control of large numbers is possible, and like unto that of small numbers, if we subdivide them.

Sun Tzu

#70. When your opponent gives you an opening, be swift as a hare.

Sun Tzu

#71. Those skilled in attack move as from above the nine-fold heavens. Thus they are capable both of protecting themselves and of gaining complete victory.

Sun Tzu

#72. If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need to do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.

Sun Tzu

#73. In all history, there is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. Only one who knows the disastrous effects of a long war can realize the supreme importance of rapidity in bringing it to a close.

Sun Tzu

#74. Great results, can be achieved with small forces.

Sun Tzu

#75. Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.

Sun Tzu

#76. Without local guides, your enemy employs the land as a weapon against you.

Sun Tzu

#77. What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

Sun Tzu

#78. One need not destroy one's enemy. One need only destroy his willingness to engage.

Sun Tzu

#79. Put them in a spot where they have no place to go, and they will die before fleeing.

Sun Tzu

#80. When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away ...

Sun Tzu

#81. When you start a fire, be to windward of it. Do not attack from the leeward.

Sun Tzu

#82. The victorious army is victorious first and seeks battle later; the defeated army seeks battle first and seeks victory later.

Sun Tzu

#83. When a general, unable to estimate the enemy's strength, allows an inferior force to engage a larger one, or hurls a weak detachment against a powerful one, and neglects to place picked soldiers in the front rank, the result must be rout.

Sun Tzu

#84. For the wise man delights in establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show his courage in action, the covetous man is quick at seizing advantages, and the stupid man has no fear of death.

Sun Tzu

#85. So it is that good warriors take their stance on ground where they cannot lose, and do not overlook conditions that make an opponent prone to defeat.

Sun Tzu

#86. Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.

Sun Tzu

#87. What is of the greatest importance in war is extraordinary speed: One cannot afford to neglect opportunity.

Sun Tzu

#88. When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.

Sun Tzu

#89. A sovereign should never launch an army out of anger, a leader should never start a war out of wrath

Sun Tzu

#90. Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will.

Sun Tzu

#91. When the enemy is at ease, be able to weary him; when well fed, to starve him; when at rest, to make him move. Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.

Sun Tzu

#92. Correct your mistake as soon as you have found it.

Sun Tzu

#93. In desperate position, you must fight.

Sun Tzu

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

Sun Tzu

#95. Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price.

Sun Tzu

#96. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

Sun Tzu

#97. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat: - let such a one be dismissed!

Sun Tzu

#98. To conquer the enemy without resorting to war is the most desirable. The highest form of generalship is to conquer the enemy by strategy.

Sun Tzu

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

Sun Tzu

#100. In a similar way, The Art of War pinpoints anger and greed as fundamental causes of defeat.

Sun Tzu