Sun Tzu Quotes

206 Sourced Quotes

Therefore I say: know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.

Sun Tzu
When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the commander-in-chief can tell whether or not he is in a position to fight, the result is ruin.

Sun Tzu
No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.

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

Sun Tzu
Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will.

Sun Tzu
When the general is weak and without authority; when his orders are not clear and distinct; when there are no fixed duties assigned to officers and men, and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner, the result is utter disorganization.

Sun Tzu
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 drums, banners and flags, are means whereby the ears and eyes of the host may be focused on one particular point.

Sun Tzu
The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy

Sun Tzu
Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measure of far and near wins - this is the rule of armed struggle.

Sun Tzu
The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

Sun Tzu
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 more confidential than those relating to secret operations.

Sun Tzu
Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

Sun Tzu
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.

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

Sun Tzu
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.

Sun Tzu
The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not be swayed by petty doubts.

Sun Tzu
When a general, unable to estimate the enemy's strength, allows an inferior force to engage a larger one, or hurls a weak detachment against a powerful one, and neglects to place picked soldiers in the front rank, the result must be rout.

Sun Tzu
Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack.

Sun Tzu
The end and aim of spying in all its five varieties is knowledge of the enemy; and this knowledge can only be derived, in the first instance, from the converted spy. Hence it is essential that the converted spy be treated with the utmost liberality.

Sun Tzu
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.

Sun Tzu
Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.

Sun Tzu
So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence.

Sun Tzu
With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up.

Sun Tzu
Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity.

Sun Tzu
Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.

Sun Tzu
When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called temporising ground.

Sun Tzu
The military has no constant form, just as water has no constant shape - adapt as you face the enemy, without letting them know beforehand what you are going to do.

Sun Tzu
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 head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.

Sun Tzu
Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy... use the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.

Sun Tzu
Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.

Sun Tzu