710 Quotes by Sun Tzu

Now a soldier’s spirit is keenest in the morning; by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, his mind is only on returning to camp.

The natural formation of the country is the soldier’s best ally; but a power of estimating the adversary, of controlling the forces of victory, and of shrewdly calculating difficulties, dangers and distances, constitutes the test of a great general.

The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.

Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine.

The natural formation of the country is the soldier’s best ally.

Rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him.

No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.

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.

One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.