« All May Quotes · Sun Tzu's Page
May Quotes by Sun Tzu
- 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…
- Bestow rewards without respect to customary practice; publish orders without respect to precedent. Thus you may employ the entire army as you would one man.
- There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: recklessness, which leads to destruction; cowardice, which leads to capture; a hasty temper, which can…
- If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
- The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. Strike at its…
- Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
- Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He…
- Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.
- 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…
- 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…
- In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attractive bait, it will be advisable not to stir forth, but…
- We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) entangling ground; (3) temporising ground; (4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights; (6)…
- 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…
- If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is tempermental,…
- Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.
- 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…
- No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique. If…
- In the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.
- Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards... Water shapes its course according…
- 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…
- Hostile armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory which is decided in a single day. This being so, to remain in…
- Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all.
- Pretend to be weak, so your enemy may grow arrogant.
- In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. Indirect tactics,…
- In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. In battle,…
More May Quotes
- Economic growth may one day turn out to be a curse rather than a good, and under no conditions can it either… — Hannah Arendt
- The defiance of established authority, religious and secular, social and political, as a world-wide phenomenon may well one day be accounted the… — Hannah Arendt
- With a goose-quill and a few sheets of paper, I mock myself of the universe. They say I am the son of… — Pietro Aretino
- Sometimes people who want to understand Haiti from a political perspective may be missing part of the picture. They also need to… — Jean-Bertrand Aristide
- Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever. — Aristophanes
- Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion. — Aristotle
- If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature's way. — Aristotle
- We make war that we may live in peace. — Aristotle
- Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal, and equals that they may be superior. Such is the state of mind… — Aristotle
- It is just that we should be grateful, not only to those with whose views we may agree, but also to those… — Aristotle
- Whether if soul did not exist time would exist or not, is a question that may fairly be asked; for if there… — Aristotle
- Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside… — Lance Armstrong