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Sun Tzu -
The Art of War
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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
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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
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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
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The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not be swayed by petty doubts.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence.
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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.
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Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.
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When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called temporising ground.
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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.
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Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy... use the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.
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Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and you know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you now Heaven and you know Earth, you may make your victory complete.
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Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.
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A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.
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A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.
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Should the enemy forestall you in occupying a pass, do not go after him if the pass is fully garrisoned, but only if it is weakly garrisoned.
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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.
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If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.
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To perceive victory when it is known to all is not really skilful... It does not take much strength to lift a hair, it does not take sharp eyes to see the sun and moon, it does not take sharp ears to hear the thunderclap.
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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.
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Thus those skilled in war subdue the enemy's army without battle.... They conquer by strategy.
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What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.
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The one who figures on victory at headquarters before even doing battle is the one who has the most strategic factors on his side.
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He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
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In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
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The natural formation of the country is the soldier's best ally; but a power of estimating the adversary, of controlling the forces of victory, and of shrewdly calculating difficulties, dangers and distances, constitutes the test of a great general.
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Therefore a victorious army first wins and then seeks battle; a defeated army first battles and then seeks victory.
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He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
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Quote of the day
What counts is what you do with your money, not where it came from.
Merton Miller
Sun Tzu
Born:
543 BC
Died:
495 BC
(aged 48)
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