Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

Life comes from the earth and life returns to the earth.

There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited.

Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.

When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.

Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move.

I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I...

All war is deception.

The enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution.

To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.

If one’s bowels move, one is happy, and if they don’t move, one is unhappy. That is all there is to it.

He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious.

If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.

Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge.

It is essential to seek out enemy agents who have come to conduct espionage against you and to bribe them to serve you. Give them instructions and care for them. Thus doubled agents are recruited...

Those who are wise won’t be busy, and those who are too busy can’t be wise.

For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.

To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

All war is based on deception.

The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

There is a certain proper and luxurious way of lying in bed. Confucius, that great artist of life, “never lay straight” in bed, “like a corpse”, but always curled up on one side. I believe...

Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory.

For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

All warfare is based on deception.

The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

Happiness for me is largely a matter of digestion.

He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.

The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.

There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?

A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.

If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.

Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.

It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results.

Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the Attack.

For the wise man looks into space and he knows there is no limited dimensions.

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

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...

If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.

Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

The skilful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

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

You have to believe in yourself.

In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.

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

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.

Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.