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Do not press an enemy at bay. Prince Fu Ch'ai said: Wild beasts, when at bay, fight desperately. How much more is this true of men! If they know there is no alternative, they will fight to the death.

Sun Tzu

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Sun Tzu
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More quotes by Sun Tzu

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A warrior who is prepared to fight must also be prepared to die.
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It is imperative to contest all factions for complete victory, so the army is not garrisoned and the profit can be total. This is the law of strategic siege.
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Secret operations are essential in war upon them the army relies to make its every move.
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One who sets the entire army in motion to chase an advantage will not attain it.
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Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.
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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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In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.
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Fierce language and pretentious advances are signs that the enemy is about to retreat.
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Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow decision, to the releasing of a trigger.
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Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of business.
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Those skilled in attack move as from above the nine-fold heavens. Thus they are capable both of protecting themselves and of gaining complete victory.
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We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground (2) entangling ground (3) temporising ground (4) narrow passes (5) precipitous heights (6) positions at a great distance from the enemy.
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Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate.
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Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and you know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt if you now Heaven and you know Earth, you may make your victory complete.
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Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise, for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.
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You cannot know if you will be successful or not. You can only prepare for battle and it must be done with all of your heart and with all of your consciousness. In that manner, you will have an edge.
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Be where your enemy is not.
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Use humility to make the enemy haughty. Tire them by flight. Cause division among them. When they are unprepared, attack and make your move when they do not expect it.
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In war, practice dissimulation and you will succeed.
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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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