Top 350 Sun Tzu Quotes (2024 Update)
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201. “O divine art of subtlety and secrecy!”

— Sun Tzu

202. “Those who excel in war first cultivate their own humanity and and maintain their laws and institutions. By these means they make their governments invincible.”

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

205. “When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is insubordination. When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is collapse.”

— Sun Tzu

206. “Probe him and learn where his strength is abundant and where deficient.”

— Sun Tzu

207. “He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.”

— Sun Tzu

208. “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

209. “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

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

— Sun Tzu

211. “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

212. “If this is long delayed, weapons are blunted and morale depressed.”

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

214. “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

215. “The business of a general is to kick away the ladder behind soldiers when they have climbed up a height.”

— Sun Tzu

216. “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

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

— Sun Tzu

218. “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

219. “Weigh the situation, then move.”

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

222. “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

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

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

225. “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

226. “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

227. “Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.”

— Sun Tzu

228. “Rewards for good service should not be deferred a single day.”

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

231. “In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them.”

— Sun Tzu

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

— Sun Tzu

233. “Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army’s ability to move.”

— Sun Tzu

234. “The expert in battle seeks his victory from strategic advantage and does not demand it from his men.”

— Sun Tzu

235. “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

236. “Agitate him and ascertain the pattern of his movement.”

— Sun Tzu

237. “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

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

— Sun Tzu

239. “Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measure of far and near wins – this is the rule of armed struggle.”

— Sun Tzu

240. “Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy’s purpose.”

— Sun Tzu

241. “The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few.”

— Sun Tzu

242. “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

243. “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

244. “Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports.”

— Sun Tzu

245. “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

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

— Sun Tzu

247. “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

248. “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

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

— Sun Tzu

250. “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