Sun Tzu

"One may know how to conquer without being able to do it."

"When the enemy is at ease, you should trouble him. When well supplied with food, starve him out. When at rest, harass him."

"All victors are alike; every defeated army is defeated in its own way."

"Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance."

"The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy."

"He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight."

"Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

"It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright and just, and thus maintain order."

"The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought."

"If you wish to fight with the enemy, you must first appraise his strength and numbers."

"Understanding the season and terrain enables you to understand victory."

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

"A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its morale is high; he attacks it when its morale is низ. This is the art of psychology."

"The importance of money is not in accumulating it, but in the direction of its flow."

"In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact."

"Invulnerability lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack."

"Those who excel in anything, pass all their time in it."

"The supreme art of war is to attack the enemy's plans."

"A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound's weight placed in the scale against a single grain."

"If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant."

"When strong, avoid them. If of a surly disposition, seek to irritate him."

"A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation, not from his men."

"Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances."

"To know your enemy, you must become your enemy."

"The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage which all must reach."

"When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing."

"Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment—that which they cannot anticipate."

"Be like the sun and moon—constant in your principles but variable in your methods."

"The greatest danger of an army is indecision on the part of the commander."

"A leader's strength comes from his advisors, not from his position."