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

 

" Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories."

 

" 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 your opponent’s fate."

 

" Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

 

" All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved."

 

" Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack. If fighting is sure to result in victory, than you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding."

 

" If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril."

 

 

" To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

 

" If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory."

 

" Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared. "

 

"Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack."

 

" He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks."

 

" Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. "