More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
All warfare is based on deception.
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
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.
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
One may KNOW how to conquer without being able to DO it.
What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.
he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.
So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy, nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.
Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot.
When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called TEMPORIZING ground.
If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it;
On desperate ground, fight.
“Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will.”
Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy’s unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.
Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety.
wind that rises in the daytime lasts long, but a night breeze soon falls.
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.
Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity.
