Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.
Never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them.
All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
To know your enemy, you must become your enemy.
You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
May God have mercy for my enemies because I won’t.
You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.
Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain.
When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.
When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.
Better to fight for something than live for nothing.
The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment.
When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.
So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.
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.
There is no time for ease and comfort. It is the time to dare and endure.
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.