Sun Tzu Art Quotes

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

Mad
Stargirl

Linden Morningstar

#2. As water has no constant form, there are in war no constant conditions.

Sun Tzu

#3. In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.

Sun Tzu

#4. Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with an undisciplined multitude, most dangerous.

Sun Tzu

#5. In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

Sun Tzu

#6. Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another ten times its size, the result will be the flight of the former.

Sun Tzu

#7. The skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting.

Sun Tzu

#8. An army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.

Sun Tzu

#9. Carefully study the well-being of your men, and do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength. Keep your army continually on the move, and devise unfathomable plans.

Sun Tzu

#10. The military has no constant form, just as water has no constant shape - adapt as you face the enemy, without letting them know beforehand what you are going to do.

Sun Tzu

#11. On the field of battle, the spoken word does not carry far enough; hence the institution of gongs and drums ... banners and flags. Gongs and drums, banners and flags, are means whereby the ears and eyes of the host may be focused on one particular point.

Sun Tzu

#12. With regard to narrow passes, if you can occupy them first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.

Sun Tzu

#13. The ultimate in disposing one's troops is to be without ascertainable shape. Then the most penetrating spies cannot pry in nor can the wise lay plans against you.

Sun Tzu

#14. When I have won a victory I do not repeat my tactics but respond to circumstances in an infinite variety of ways.

Sun Tzu

#15. The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands

Sun Tzu

#16. Of old the expert in battle would first make himself invincible and then wait for his enemy to expose his vulnerability.

Sun Tzu

#17. To a surrounded enemy, you must leave a way of escape.

Sun Tzu

#18. Factors in the art of warfare are: First, calculations; second, quantities; third, logistics; fourth, the balance of power; and fifth, the possibility of victory is based on the balance of power.

Sun Tzu

#19. From a position of this sort, if the enemy is unprepared, you may sally forth and defeat him. But if the enemy is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.

Sun Tzu

#20. When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones. For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if round-shaped to go rolling down.

Sun Tzu

#21. Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.

Sun Tzu

#22. Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men.

Sun Tzu

#23. Swift as the wind. Quiet as the forest. Conquer like the fire. Steady as the mountain

Sun Tzu

#24. O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible, and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.

Sun Tzu

#25. If this is long delayed, weapons are blunted and morale depressed.

Sun Tzu

#26. Do not press an enemy at bay.

Sun Tzu

#27. Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces, the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

Sun Tzu

#28. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.

Sun Tzu

#29. Hence the experienced soldier, once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss.

Sun Tzu

#30. If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and fighting will be to your disadvantage.

Sun Tzu

#31. In peace prepare for war, in war prepare for peace. The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence under no circumstances can it be neglected.

Sun Tzu

#32. The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not be swayed by petty doubts.

Sun Tzu

#33. The essential factor of military success is speed, that is taking advantage of others' unpreparedness or lack of foresight, their failure to catch up, going by routes they do not expect, attacking where they are not on guard. This you cannot accomplish with hesitation.

Sun Tzu

#34. To capture an enemies army is better than to destroy it.

Sun Tzu

#35. To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill

Sun Tzu

#36. Unless you know the mountains and the forests, the defiles and impasses, the lay of the marshes and swamps, you cannot maneuver with an armed force. Unless you use local guides, you cannot get the advantages of the land.

Sun Tzu

#37. The King is only fond of words, and cannot translate them into deeds.

Teck Foo Check

#38. Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports.

Sun Tzu

#39. Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called entangling.

Sun Tzu

#40. When campaigning, be swift as the wind; in leisurely march, majestic as the forest; in raiding and plundering, like fire; in standing, firm as the mountains. As unfathomable as the clouds, move like a thunderbolt.

Sun Tzu

#41. He must be able to mystify his officers and men by false reports and appearances, and thus keep them in total ignorance.

Sun Tzu

#42. The good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

Sun Tzu

#43. He who wishes to fight must first count the cost. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be dampened. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

Sun Tzu

#44. It is the business of a general to be serene and inscrutable, impartial and self-controlled.

Sun Tzu

#45. It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright and just, and thus maintain order.

Sun Tzu

#46. Bestow rewards without regard to rule, issue orders without regard to previous arrangements; and you will be able to handle a whole army as though you had to do with but a single man.

Sun Tzu

#47. Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.

Sun Tzu

#48. One defends when his strength is inadequate, he attacks when it is abundant.

Sun Tzu

#49. Nothing is more difficult than the art of maneuvering for advantageous positions.

Sun Tzu

#50. 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

#51. These are six ways of courting defeat, which must be carefully noted by the general who has attained a responsible post.

Sun Tzu

#52. 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

#53. Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, 1 but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganisation; (6) rout.

Sun Tzu

#54. Now a soldier's spirit is keenest in the morning; by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, his mind is only on returning to camp.

Sun Tzu

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

Sun Tzu

#56. 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

#57. 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

#58. 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

#59. 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

#60. 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

#61. 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

#62. 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

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

Sun Tzu

#64. 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

#65. With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up.

Sun Tzu

#66. 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

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

Sun Tzu

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

Sun Tzu

#69. Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine

Sun Tzu

#70. 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

#71. 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

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

Sun Tzu

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

Sun Tzu

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

Sun Tzu

#75. 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

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

Sun Tzu

#77. Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.

Sun Tzu

#78. 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. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

Sun Tzu

#79. Don't flail against the world, use it. Flexibility is the operative principle in the art of war.

Sun Tzu

#80. Should one ask: 'how do I cope with a well-ordered enemy host about to attack me?' I reply: seize something he cherishes and he will conform to your desires.

Sun Tzu

#81. Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is called accessible.

Sun Tzu

#82. As water shapes its flow in accordance with the ground, so an army manages its victory in accordance with the situation of the enemy.

Sun Tzu

#83. Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.

Sun Tzu

#84. 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

#85. The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

Sun Tzu

#86. Rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him

Sun Tzu

#87. When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called temporising ground.

Sun Tzu

#88. The Art of War is self-explanatory

Sun Tzu

#89. When orders are consistently trustworthy and observed, the relationship of a commander with his troops is satisfactory.

Sun Tzu

#90. In warfare, there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent will succeed and win.

Sun Tzu

#91. Do not engage an enemy more powerful than you. And if it is unavoidable and you do have to engage, then make sure you engage it on your terms, not on your enemy's terms.

Sun Tzu

#92. Victory is the main object in war.

Sun Tzu

#93. The art of war is the art of deception.

Sun Tzu

#94. War is a matter of vital importance to the state; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied.

Sun Tzu

#95. If a battle can not be won do not fight it.

Sun Tzu

#96. Invincibility depends on one's self; the enemy's vulnerability on him.

Sun Tzu

#97. When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.

Sun Tzu

#98. The supreme excellence is not to win a hundred victories in a hundred battles. The supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies without having to fight them.

Sun Tzu

#99. Leaders can change the tenor of the workplace and create harmony in motion toward a favorable result. So every time you say to your team, "Let's rock and roll," make sure you have already set up the stage to where they can actually perform like rock stars.

Thomas Huynh

#100. If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in.

Sun Tzu