A leader leads by example not by force.

To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.

風　Swift as the wind
林　Quiet as the forest
火　Conquer like the fire
山　Steady as the mountain

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.

He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.

All warfare is based on deception.

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

If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him.

Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.

To a surrounded enemy, you must leave a way of escape.

Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.

There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.

Management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization.

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperilled in every single battle.

One defends when his strength is inadaquate, he attacks when it is abundant

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

A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation and does not demand it of his subordinates.

When the enemy is at ease, be able to weary him; when well fed, to starve him; when at rest, to make him move. Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.

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.

A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.

The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities... It is best to win without fighting.

What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

It is essential to seek out enemy agents who have come to conduct espionage against you and to bribe them to serve you. Give them instructions and care for them. Thus doubled agents are recruited and used.