The Art Of War
Sun TzuQuotes
Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
1- He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
2- He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
3- He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
4- He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
5- He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
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.
There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.