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If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and fighting will be to your disadvantage.

Sun Tzu

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Sun Tzu
Military Personnel
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Kingdom of Qi
Sun Wu
Sun Zi
Changqing
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More quotes by Sun Tzu

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Therefore I say: know the enemy and know yourself in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.
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Opportunities increase as they are taken.
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If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders are clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers.
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Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow.
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So the principles of warfare are: Do not depend on the enemy not coming, but depend on our readiness against him. Do not depend on the enemy not attacking, but depend on our position that cannot be attacked.
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All war is deception.
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Do not engage an enemy more powerful than you. And if it is unavoidable and you do have to engage, then make sure you engage it on your terms, not on your enemy's terms.
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Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity.
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Carefully study the well-being of your men, and do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength. Keep your army continually on the move, and devise unfathomable plans.
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A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.
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For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.
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The skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting.
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Should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.
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Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is master of his enemy's fate.
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Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow...they have form but are formless. They are skilled in both planning and adapting and need not fear the result of a thousand battles: for they win in advance, defeating those that have already lost.
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In all history, there is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. Only one who knows the disastrous effects of a long war can realize the supreme importance of rapidity in bringing it to a close.
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Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports.
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Winning isn't enough. The acme of all skill is to defeat your enemy before taking the field.
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