Sun Tzu Quotes

206 Sourced Quotes

It is through the dispositions of an army that its condition may be discovered. 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
Apparent confusion is a product of good order; apparent cowardice, of courage; apparent weakness, of strength.

Sun Tzu
In the tumult and uproar, the battle seems chaotic, but there is no disorder, the troops appear to be milling about in circles but cannot be defeated.

Sun Tzu
There are routes not to be followed, armies not to be attacked, citadels not to be besieged, territory not to be fought over.

Sun Tzu
Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot.

Sun Tzu
Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety.

Sun Tzu
When you do battle, even if you are winning, if you continue for a long time it will dull your forces and blunt you edge...If you keep your armies out in the field for a long time, your supplies will be insufficient. Transportation of provisions itself consumes 20 times the amount transported.

Sun Tzu
Getting people to fight by letting the force of momentum work is like rolling logs and rocks. Logs and rocks are still when in a secure place, but roll on an incline; they remain stationary if square, they roll if round. Therefore, when people are skillfully led into battle, the momentum is like that of round rocks rolling down a high mountain -- this is force.

Sun Tzu
He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them.

Sun Tzu
The control of large numbers is possible, and like unto that of small numbers, if we subdivide them.

Sun Tzu
The peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict unnecessary.

Sun Tzu
Set the troops to their tasks without imparting your designs.

Sun Tzu
In warfare, first lay plans which will ensure victory, and then lead your army to battle; if you will not begin with stratagem but rely on brute strength alone, victory will no longer be assured.

Sun Tzu
Therefore the victories of good warriors are not noted for cleverness or bravery. Therefore their victories in battle are not flukes. Their victories are not flukes because they position themselves where they will surely win, prevailing over those wh.

Sun Tzu
If you fight with all your might, there is a chance of life; where as death is certain if you cling to your corner

Sun Tzu
The leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.

Sun Tzu
To maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.

Sun Tzu
He who relies solely on warlike measures shall be exterminated; he who relies solely on peaceful measures shall perish.

Sun Tzu
For the wise man delights in establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show his courage in action, the covetous man is quick at seizing advantages, and the stupid man has no fear of death.

Sun Tzu
He who wishes to fight must first count the cost. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be dampened. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

Sun Tzu
If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and fighting will be to your disadvantage.

Sun Tzu
Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered. Know the ground, know the weather; your victory will then be total.

Sun Tzu
The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few.

Sun Tzu
Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

Sun Tzu
He must be able to mystify his officers and men by false reports and appearances, and thus keep them in total ignorance.

Sun Tzu
What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.

Sun Tzu
These are six ways of courting defeat, which must be carefully noted by the general who has attained a responsible post.

Sun Tzu
War is a matter of vital importance to the state; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied.

Sun Tzu
The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.

Sun Tzu
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 your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.

Sun Tzu