Quickness is the essence of the war.
Know thyself, know thy enemy.
To Subdue an enemy without fighting is the greatest of skills.
If this is long delayed, weapons are blunted and morale depressed.
There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefitted.
The King is only fond of words, and cannot translate them into deeds.
Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety.
Great results can be achieved with small forces.
When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones. For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if round-shaped to go rolling down.
The wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine.
Agitate him and ascertain the pattern of his movement.
He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
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.
Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measure of far and near wins – this is the rule of armed struggle.
The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not be swayed by petty doubts.
Who can determine where one ends and the other begins?
For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.
Defeat the enemy’s strategy.
If an enemy has alliances, the problem is grave and the enemy’s position strong; if he has no alliances, the problem is minor and the enemy’s position weak.
Weak leadership can wreck the soundest strategy.