Sun Tzu - Army Quotes

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

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

Sun Tzu
Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence.

Sun Tzu
Thus the skilful general conducts his army just as though he were leading a single man, willy-nilly, by the hand.

Sun Tzu
Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with an undisciplined multitude, most dangerous.

Sun Tzu
Therefore a victorious army first wins and then seeks battle; a defeated army first battles and then seeks victory.

Sun Tzu
Without harmony in the State, no military expedition can be undertaken; without harmony in the army, no battle array can be formed.

Sun Tzu
When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.

Sun Tzu
Thus those skilled in war subdue the enemy's army without battle.... They conquer by strategy.

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 him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.

Sun Tzu
Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces, the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

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

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
We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes until we are acquainted with their designs. We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country - its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. We shall be unable to turn natural advantages to account unless we make use of local guides.

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
The proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause people's substance to be drained away. When their substance is drained away, they will be afflicted by heavy exactions. With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and their incomes dissipated.

Sun Tzu
It is imperative to contest all factions for complete victory, so the army is not garrisoned and the profit can be total. This is the law of strategic siege.

Sun Tzu
He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.

Sun Tzu
In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attractive bait, it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the enemy in his turn; then, when part of his army has come out, we may deliver our attack with advantage.

Sun Tzu
Bestow rewards without respect to customary practice; publish orders without respect to precedent. Thus you may employ the entire army as you would one man.

Sun Tzu
Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army's ability to move.

Sun Tzu
An army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.

Sun Tzu
Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, 1 but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganisation; (6) rout.

Sun Tzu
Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.

Sun Tzu
To capture the enemy's entire army is better than to destroy it; to take intact a regiment, a company, or a squad is better than to destroy them. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the supreme of excellence. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence.

Sun Tzu
Carefully study the well-being of your men, and do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength. Keep your army continually on the move, and devise unfathomable plans.

Sun Tzu
If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst.

Sun Tzu