If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.
Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
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.
Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
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.
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.
Start with the end in mind.
The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his.
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.
The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.
If you don’t have a strategy, you’re part of someone else’s strategy.
When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
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.
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.
Control Your Own Destiny or Someone Else Will.