If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.
The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
Know the enemy and know yourself.
In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle
If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is tempermental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.
Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is insubordination. When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is collapse.
He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move.
The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.
Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.
To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.
Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.
And therefore those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him.
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.
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