Explore the wonderful quotes under this tag
The two-war strategy is just a marketing device to justify a high [military] budget.
Sep 17, 2025
If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.
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.
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.
The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.
The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.
The good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.
He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.
The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.
He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.
Rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him
And therefore those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him.
All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
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 has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
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.
What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.
Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands
Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise, for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.
So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.
In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
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 the opponent's fate.
What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.
If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are.
He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
Know thy self, know thy enemy.
He who wishes to fight must first count the cost
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; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.
Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.
The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night.
Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.
Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move.
He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
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.
Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge.
We`re facing a very different sort of threat now, a more amorphous threat, al Qaeda, terrorism, and so on. And so the military has abandoned the two-war strategy.