--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One who speaks deferentially but…" description: "\"One who speaks deferentially but increases his preparations will advance. One who speaks belligerently and advances hastily will retreat.\" — Sun Tzu" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/sun-tzu-283_increase_one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increas_2949226.jpg" --- # One who speaks deferentially but increases his… ![“One who speaks deferentially but increases his preparations will advance. One who speaks belligerently and advances hastily will retreat.” quote by Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/sun-tzu-283_increase_one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increas_2949226.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/sun-tzu-283_increase_one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increas_2949226.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/sun-tzu-283_increase_one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increas_2949226.jpg) > “One who speaks deferentially but increases his preparations will advance. One who speaks belligerently and advances hastily will retreat.” [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Strategic communication matters: respectful planning leads forward progress; aggressive haste leads to setbacks. **In simple terms:** Respectful planning advances; aggressive haste retreats. Key Takeaway Plan respectfully, act deliberately. Themes strategy communication leadership Mood determined reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - military campaigns - business negotiations - personal goal setting Key Concepts conflict resolution decision making Questions to Reflect On - How does tone affect outcomes? - When is boldness appropriate? A Different Perspective Overconfidence can mask necessary caution. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advances Hastily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advances-hastily-4436566/) [Belligerently Advances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belligerently-advances-4436564/) [Hastily Retreat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hastily-retreat-4436568/) [Increase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increase/) [Preparation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preparation/) [Retreat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retreat/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Speaks Belligerently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speaks-belligerently-4436565/) [Speaks Deferentially](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speaks-deferentially-4436567/) ## Related quotes > [“He who advances without seeking fame, Who retreats without escaping blame, He whose one aim is to protect his people and serve his lord,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/he-who-advances-without-seeking-fame-who-retreats-without-escaping/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [To persuade your enemy to (retreat) before the fight is to defeat them even before the battle begins. An enemy made ally is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/to-persuade-your-enemy-to-retreat-before-the-fight-is-to-defeat-them/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [If the enemy has occupied them before you, do not follow him, but retreat and try to entice him away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/if-the-enemy-has-occupied-them-before-you-do-not-follow-him-but/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Humble words and increased preparations are signs that the enemy is about to advance. Violent language and driving forward as if to the attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/humble-words-and-increased-preparations-are-signs-that-the-enemy-is/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Fierce language and pretentious advances are signs that the enemy is about to retreat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/fierce-language-and-pretentious-advances-are-signs-that-the-enemy-is/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [All writers are obviously neurotic... For various reasons, writers retreat into an imaginary world because they find ordinary life rather difficult or boring or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-koch/all-writers-are-obviously-neurotic-for-various-reasons-writers/) [Christopher Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-koch/) > [“I want my heart to be the thin place. I don't want to board a plane to feel the kiss of heaven. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-white/i-want-my-heart-to-be-the-thin-place-i-don-t-want-to-board-a-plane-to/) [Anna White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-white/) > [If I turned towards books, it was because they were the only sanctuary I knew, one I needed in order to survive, to protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/if-i-turned-towards-books-it-was-because-they-were-the-only-sanctuary/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [A man may be accused of cowardice for fleeing away from all manner of physical dangers but when things supernatural, insubstantial and inexplicable threaten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/a-man-may-be-accused-of-cowardice-for-fleeing-away-from-all-manner-of/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [Or maybe a person is just made up of a lot of peopleMaybe we’re accumulating these new selves all the time. Hauling them in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jandy-nelson/or-maybe-a-person-is-just-made-up-of-a-lot-of-peoplemaybe-we-re/) [Jandy Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jandy-nelson/) > [I have a place in New England. It's in the middle of nowhere, like horror movie style - Stephen King-ville. It's a good kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-momsen/i-have-a-place-in-new-england-it-s-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-like/) [Taylor Momsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-momsen/) > [I tell my retreat students that they need to remember two things: to eat what they want when they're hungry and to feel what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/i-tell-my-retreat-students-that-they-need-to-remember-two-things-to/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [What is wrong with looking muscular? Muscles are beautiful. Strength is beautiful. Muscle tissue is beautiful. It is metabolically, medically, and philosophically beautiful. Muscles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-angier/what-is-wrong-with-looking-muscular-muscles-are-beautiful-strength-is/) [Natalie Angier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-angier/) > [I decided to lock myself in. A forced segregation. Sabbatical. A retreat into myself. My selves. Play hide and go seek in the looking-glass.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/i-decided-to-lock-myself-in-a-forced-segregation-sabbatical-a-retreat/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/) [Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/) ## More by Sun Tzu > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-the-rule-in-war-if-our-forces-are-ten-to-the-enemy-s-one-to/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [It is according to the shapes that I lay the plans for victory, but the multitude does not comprehend this. Although everyone can see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-according-to-the-shapes-that-i-lay-the-plans-for-victory-but/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“In a similar way, The Art of War pinpoints anger and greed as fundamental causes of defeat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/in-a-similar-way-the-art-of-war-pinpoints-anger-and-greed-as/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/the-people-being-regarded-as-the-essential-part-of-the-state-and-food/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/therefore-the-good-fighter-will-be-terrible-in-his-onset-and-prompt/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/the-enemy-s-spies-who-have-come-to-spy-on-us-must-be-sought-out/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“So long as victory can be attained,  stupid haste is preferable to clever dilatoriness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/so-long-as-victory-can-be-attained-stupid-haste-is-preferable-to/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/you-can-ensure-the-safety-of-your-defense-if-you-only-hold-positions/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/hence-when-able-to-attack-we-must-seem-unable-when-using-our-forces/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/if-we-do-not-wish-to-fight-we-can-prevent-the-enemy-from-engaging-us/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/the-general-who-wins-a-battle-makes-many-calculations-in-his-temple/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/in-all-fighting-the-direct-method-may-be-used-for-joining-battle-but/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [“To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy's numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/to-begin-by-bluster-but-afterwards-to-take-fright-at-the-enemy-s/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [ They \[spies\] cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/they-spies-cannot-be-properly-managed-without-benevolence-and/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) [Explore all 685 Sun Tzu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) ## More Increase quotes > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [One reason for the tremendous increase in health-care costs in the U.S. is managerial neglect of the "hotel services" by the people who dominate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/one-reason-for-the-tremendous-increase-in-health-care-costs-in-the-u/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [Vegetables, which are the lowest in the scale of living things, are fed by roots, which, implanted in the native soil, select by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/vegetables-which-are-the-lowest-in-the-scale-of-living-things-are-fed/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) [Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/) > [You could get in rehearsals, pre-production, anything that would actually contribute to the understanding of how a film gets made. I actually find those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-roach/you-could-get-in-rehearsals-pre-production-anything-that-would/) [Jay Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-roach/) > [When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/when-one-fib-becomes-due-as-it-were-you-must-forge-another-to-take-up/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Bring the viewer to your side, include him in your thought. He is not a bystander. You have the power to increase his perceptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-lange/bring-the-viewer-to-your-side-include-him-in-your-thought-he-is-not-a/) [Dorothea Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-lange/) > [Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/each-year-more-than-100-000-high-school-graduates-with-proved-ability/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [ The only way you can do that \[decrease taxes, balance the budget, and increase military spending\] is with mirrors… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-b-anderson/the-only-way-you-can-do-that-decrease-taxes-balance-the-budget-and/) [John B. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-b-anderson/) > [The American people reject the idea of giving Washington a blank check to increase the debt limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-roby/the-american-people-reject-the-idea-of-giving-washington-a-blank/) [Martha Roby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-roby/) > [Only one thing has always helped to increase my strength increased further: I'm not alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/only-one-thing-has-always-helped-to-increase-my-strength-increased/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Gratitude is the law of increase, and complaint is the law of decrease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-scovel-shinn/gratitude-is-the-law-of-increase-and-complaint-is-the-law-of-decrease/) [Florence Scovel Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-scovel-shinn/) > [And so we have to be careful with looking at additional stimulus that we don't provoke an increase in the bond rate and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-raines/and-so-we-have-to-be-careful-with-looking-at-additional-stimulus-that/) [Franklin Raines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-raines/) > [No matter the style, the farther one goes the more obstacles increase, and the more distant appears the object it is desired to attain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-georges-noverre/no-matter-the-style-the-farther-one-goes-the-more-obstacles-increase/) [Jean-Georges Noverre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-georges-noverre/) [Browse all 2,910 Increase quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increase/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One who speaks deferentially but increases his preparations will advance. One who speaks belligerently and advances hastily will retreat.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sun Tzu" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increases-his-preparations-will/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Increase" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increases-his-preparations-will/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/sun-tzu-283_increase_one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increas_2949226.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/sun-tzu-283_increase_one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increas_2949226.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/sun-tzu-283_increase_one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increas_2949226.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One who speaks deferentially but increases his preparations will advance. One who speaks belligerently and…” — Sun Tzu", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sun Tzu", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One who speaks deferentially but increases...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increases-his-preparations-will/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/one-who-speaks-deferentially-but-increases-his-preparations-will/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```