Sun Tzu Quotes

Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

~ Sun Tzu

Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive.

~ Sun Tzu

If his forces are united, separate them.

~ Sun Tzu

who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits

~ Sun Tzu

do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat

~ Sun Tzu

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

~ Sun Tzu

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

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

~ Sun Tzu

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

~ Sun Tzu

A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return.

~ Sun Tzu

Know the enemy, know yourself and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles.

~ Sun Tzu

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

~ Sun Tzu

There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:(1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction;(2) cowardice, which leads to capture;(3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;(4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame;(5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.

~ Sun Tzu

Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.

~ Sun Tzu

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

If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him. Though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.

~ Sun Tzu

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

~ Sun Tzu

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win

~ Sun Tzu

The art of war is the art of deception.

~ Sun Tzu

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

~ Sun Tzu

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

~ Sun Tzu

There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must be not attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.

~ Sun Tzu

Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend, march swiftly to places where you are not expected.

~ Sun Tzu

The rising of birds in their flight is the sign of an ambuscade. Startled beasts indicate that a sudden attack is coming.

~ Sun Tzu

5,6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

~ Sun Tzu

it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

~ Sun Tzu

If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

~ Sun Tzu

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

~ Sun Tzu

He wins his battles by making no mistakes.Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

~ Sun Tzu

5,6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.Excerpt From: Sunzi. “The Art of War.” iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.

~ Sun Tzu

O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible, and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.

~ Sun Tzu

Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory is won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

~ Sun Tzu

One need not destroy one's enemy. One need only destroy his willingness to engage.

~ Sun Tzu

The victorious army is victorious first and seeks battle later, the defeated army seeks battle first and seeks victory later.

~ Sun Tzu

Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

~ Sun Tzu

He who advances without seeking fame,Who retreats without escaping blame,He whose one aim is to protect his people and serve his lord,The man is a jewel of the Realm

~ Sun Tzu

Every battle is won before it is fought.

~ Sun Tzu

Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.

~ Sun Tzu

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

~ Sun Tzu

The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.

~ Sun Tzu