Sun Tzu Quotes
Page 5 of 8

401. “In desperate position, you must fight.”

— Sun Tzu

402. “If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.”

— Sun Tzu

403. “Attack where he is unprepared; sally forth when he does not expect you.”

— Sun Tzu

404. “Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and you know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you now Heaven and you know Earth, you may make your victory complete.”

— Sun Tzu

405. “Winning Strategists are certain of triumph before seeking a challenge. Losing Strategists are certain to challenge before seeking a triumph.”

— Sun Tzu

406. “Should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.”

— Sun Tzu

407. “The successful person has unusual skill at dealing with conflict and ensuring the best outcome for all.”

— Sun Tzu

408. “There are not more than five primary colours, yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen.”

— Sun Tzu

409. “Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.”

— Sun Tzu

410. “Without local guides, your enemy employs the land as a weapon against you.”

— Sun Tzu

411. “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

412. “When you know both yourself as well as your competition, you are never in danger. To know yourself and not others, gives you half a chance of winning. Knowing neither yourself or your competition puts you in a position to lose.”

— Sun Tzu

413. “Like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.”

— Sun Tzu

414. “Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety.”

— Sun Tzu

415. “Generally in war the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this.”

— Sun Tzu

416. “When you shoot a bow and arrow, you aim at the clouds, not because you expect to hit them, but so that you may reach the distant target on the ground.”

— Sun Tzu

417. “In war, practice dissimulation and you will succeed.”

— Sun Tzu

418. “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

419. “The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy.”

— Sun Tzu

420. “If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.”

— Sun Tzu

421. “It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.”

— Sun Tzu

422. “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

423. “One defends when his strength is inadequate, he attacks when it is abundant.”

— Sun Tzu

424. “Victory is the main object in war.”

— Sun Tzu

425. “Nothing is more difficult than the art of maneuver. What is difficult about maneuver is to make the devious route the most direct and to turn misfortune to advantage.”

— Sun Tzu

426. “Weigh the situation, then move.”

— Sun Tzu

427. “The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands.”

— Sun Tzu

428. “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

— Sun Tzu

429. “If you are strong, appear weak. But if you are weak, appear strong.”

— Sun Tzu

430. “Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will.”

— Sun Tzu

431. “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

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

— Sun Tzu

433. “Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.”

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

435. “And therefore only the enlightened sovereign and the worthy general who are able to use the most intelligent people as agents are certain to achieve great things.”

— Sun Tzu

436. “The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.”

— Sun Tzu

437. “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak. 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

438. “Set the troops to their tasks without imparting your designs.”

— Sun Tzu

439. “Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with your enemy.”

— Sun Tzu

440. “The dance of battle is always played to the same impatient rhythm. What begins in a surge of violent motion is always reduced to the perfectly still.”

— Sun Tzu

441. “If quick, I survive. If not quick, I am lost. This is death.”

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

443. “Management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization.”

— Sun Tzu

444. “There is an intelligent way to eat a live frog – I just don’t know what it is.”

— Sun Tzu

445. “The enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution.”

— Sun Tzu

446. “The King is only fond of words, and cannot translate them into deeds.”

— Sun Tzu

447. “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.”

— Sun Tzu

448. “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

449. “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

450. “Of all those in the army close to the commander none is more intimate than the secret agent; of all rewards none more liberal than those given to secret agents; of all matters none is more confidential than those relating to secret operations.”

— Sun Tzu