Quotes from The Art of War

Quotations follow the Thomas Cleary translation (Shambhala, 1988) — our recommended edition.

1. 2

   All warfare is based on deception.

2. 3

   The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

3. 4

   Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.

4. 5

   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.

5. 6

   Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

6. 7

   Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.

7. 8

   Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

8. 9

   Let your rapidity be that of the wind, your compactness that of the forest.

9. 10

   He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

10. 11

    Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

11. 12

    Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.

12. 13

    Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans.

13. 14

    The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

14. 15

    Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.

15. 16

    There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

16. 17

    What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.