Sun Tzu

"The wise use words as weapons, but never draw them in anger."

"A true warrior seeks to minimize conflict, not maximize it."

"The art of war is more about psychology than weaponry."

"He who masters the art of deception masters the art of war."

"Victory comes not from the size of your army, but from the clarity of your vision."

"The greatest battles are won in the mind before they are fought on the ground."

"A warrior must know the limits of his strength and the depths of his opponent's weakness."

"True power lies not in taking action, but in restraint from action."

"The art of war teaches that flexibility is the essence of survival."

"A general who understands his people understands the path to victory."

"In every conflict, the victor has already determined the outcome before the first blow."

"To be supreme, a leader must understand the difference between fighting and winning."

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

"All warfare is based on deception."

"Know yourself and know your enemy; in a hundred battles you will never be defeated."

"The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."

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

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak."

"The supreme warrior breaks his enemy's resistance without fighting."

"Speed is the essence of war."

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

"Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt."

"The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him."

"Profiting from your enemy's mistakes is the mark of a skilled tactician."

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

"Do not engage an enemy more powerful than you. Avoid him until you are ready."

"Water does not compete with rock; yet gradually the water wears away the stone."

"The general who wins a hundred victories in a hundred battles has not attained supreme excellence. Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

"Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy."