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Famous Sun Tzu Quotes

“In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.”

MayArtEndsEarthUsedOrderFightingHeavenSunFourReturnNeededVictoryBattleMoonFlowRiversDirectSeasonsMethodSecureStreamsMartial ArtsTacticsJoiningPassing AwayHeaven And EarthUnendingIndirectFour Seasons
Book:The Art of War
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“To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”

WarFightingPoliticsPeaceEnemyWords Of WisdomBattleExcellenceSupremeResistanceConquerPersuasionArt Of WarTotal WarStrategistMake Peace Not WarPeace Not WarBreaking PromisesEastern PhilosophyWar StrategyStratagemFighting BattlesMilitary LeadershipWill To FightMilitary StrategyPolitics And War
Book:Strategy Six Pack
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“In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack.. the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.”

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Book:Strategy Six Pack
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“Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.”

KnowsMayArtWarSpiritFightingWinningForceWaitingEnemyKnow HowFiveMilitaryVictoryEssentialsCapacityArmyPreparedHandleSuperiorsInferiorsSovereignArt Of WarAnimatedStrategistUnpreparedWar StrategyStratagem
Book:The Art Of War - The Oldest Military Treatise in the World
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“Whoever is the first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh for the fight... Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy... By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.”

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Book:Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text
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“No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique. If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are. Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.”

IfsShouldMayWarMovingFightingFieldsBattleAdvantageKingdomsDestroyedWhere You AreRulersTroopsArt Of WarGladnessStrategistVexationSpleenPique
Book:The Art of War
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“If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, and also know that our men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the nature of the ground makes fighting impracticable, we have still gone only halfway towards victory.”

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Book:Sun-Tzu on the Art of War: The Oldest Military Treatise in the World (Sunzi for Language Learners, Volume 1)
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“On dispersive ground, therefore, fight not. On facile ground, halt not. On contentious ground, attack not. On open ground, do not try to block the enemy's way. On the ground of intersecting highways, join hands with your allies. On serious ground, gather in plunder. In difficult ground, keep steadily on the march. On hemmed-in ground, resort to stratagem. On desperate ground, fight.”

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Book:The Art of War (The Classic Lionel Giles Translation)
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“Getting people to fight by letting the force of momentum work is like rolling logs and rocks. Logs and rocks are still when in a secure place, but roll on an incline; they remain stationary if square, they roll if round. Therefore, when people are skillfully led into battle, the momentum is like that of round rocks rolling down a high mountain - this is force.”

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Book:The Illustrated Art of War
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