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Strategy Quotes by Sun Tzu

86 Strategy quotes by Sun Tzu

All Strategy quotes Sun Tzu’s page

Victory comes from clever strategy, not just brute force. Sun Tzu advises holding positions that cannot be attacked to keep an army safe. He also says the highest achievement is to win over an opponent without fighting, using insight instead of bloodshed.

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Defeat the enemies strategy.

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Weak leadership can wreck the soundest strategy

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Attack the enemy's strategy.

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“Never venture, never win!”

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“If his forces are united, separate them.”

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Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night...

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“Danger has a bracing effect.”

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“who wishes to fight must first count the cost”

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“These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.”

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Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack.

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Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

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“Supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”

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“Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.”

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“If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.”

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“You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.”

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

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“The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a…

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Weak leadership can wreck the soundest strategy; forceful execution of even a poor plan can often bring victory.

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“Conceal your dispositions, and your condition will remain secret, which leads to victory; show your dispositions, and your condition will become patent,…

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“When your army has crossed the border, you should burn your boats and bridges, in order to make it clear to everybody…

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“When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance to meet it in mid-stream. It will be…

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“first lay plans which will ensure victory, and then lead your army to battle; if you will not begin with stratagem but…

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“Be stern in the council-chamber, [Show no weakness, and insist on your plans being ratified by the sovereign.] so that you may…

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“If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves…

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When your weapons are dulled and ardour damped, your strength exhausted and treasure spent, neighboring rulers will take advantage of your distress…

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All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are…

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By altering his arrangements and changing his plans, the skillful general keeps the enemy without definite knowledge. By shifting his camp and…

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In executing an Artful Strategy: When ten times greater, surround them; When five times greater, attack them; When two times greater, scatter…

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Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its…

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Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the…

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“Let your rapidity be that of the wind, your compactness that of the forest. In raiding and plundering be like fire, in…

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“If we wish to wrest an advantage from the enemy, we must not fix our minds on that alone, but allow for…

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Know the enemy and know yourself.

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“mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy”

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What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

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“the worst calamities that befall an army arise from hesitation”

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“When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is COLLAPSE.”

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

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“We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.”

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“So long as victory can be attained, stupid haste is preferable to clever dilatoriness.”

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It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack…

It is according to the shapes that I lay the plans for victory, but the multitude does not comprehend this. Although everyone can see…

Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.

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

“The PEOPLE being regarded as the essential part of the State, and FOOD as the people's heaven, is it not right that those in…

Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.

The enemy's spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out, tempted with bribes, led away and comfortably housed. Thus they…

“So long as victory can be attained, stupid haste is preferable to clever dilatoriness.”

“You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.”

“Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make…

If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely…

“The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes…

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

“To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy's numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.”

They [spies] cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness.