Sun Tzu Quotes (0-)

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Sun Tzu’s success teaches us that a successful general is one who fully calculates his approach and plans to fight in a battle. However, the average reader is not able to identify Sun Tzu’s teachings on a deeper or philosophical level. This is my reason for writing and exegeses on the Art of War.”

“It seems to me that The Art of War codifies the principles of kung fu, the martial arts: to co-operate with the enemy, to prevent all-out war when possible. I remember reading a lot of pages devoted to fighting with fire, and burning down cities. Devotion to tactics rather than ethics. I have a figurine of Gwan Goong, god of war and literature, reading a book. That book is The Art of War.”

“By contrast, classical China produced many great generals, fought many wars and conquered many peoples but did not elevate military values above civilian. (It helped, perhaps, that the scholars rather than the military wrote the histories.) Fighting was not held up as something admirable but rather as the result of a breakdown in order and propriety. There is no equivalent of the Iliad in Chinese literature and the heroes held up for the young to emulate were the great bureaucrats and wise rulers who maintained the peace. Early on Chinese thinkers such as Confucius and the great strategist Sunzi (also known in the transliteration Sun Tzu) stressed that the state’s authority rested on its virtue as well as on its ability to use force. And for Sunzi, the greatest general was the one who could win a war, through manoeuvre or trickery, without fighting a battle. Prestige in Chinese society came rather from being a scholar, poet or painter; and from the Tang dynasty onwards the examination system to enter the imperial civil service was the favoured path for fame and prestige. Successful generals were sometimes awarded a scholar’s rank and gown as a mark of particular favour where many European societies would have given military decorations to meritorious civilians.”

“The one thing missing from The Art of War is love, ... any sense of altruism, any sense of loving your neighbor. It's just a[bout] how to take advantage of your neighbor, how to triumph over your neighbor, how to manipulate your neighbor. I'm sorry... It's a very nasty book. How to use your spies — that chapter thirteen on spies — is chilling. The whole book — of course it's very clever, and of course a lot of it is very true, and of course we can go through life treating people in that way if you want to, but I don't happen to believe that's the best way to go. ... The Lúnyǔ [Analects of Confucius] is a superior book to Sūnzi bīngfǎ [The Art of War] because the Lúnyǔ talks about morality, talks about caring for your fellow human being; after all, the whole idea of ren ... doesn't come in Sūnzi bīngfǎ at all. Sūnzi bīngfǎ is: how to use your friends and neighbors in order to get the better of them. That doesn't make me feel good. I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy, and I believe in being nice to people whenever I can. ... You don't go out of your way like Sun Tzu to manipulate everybody including your friends. For me, Sūnzi bīngfǎ is the dark side of Chinese culture. It's the dark side. And, I know it's there. And there's a dark side to Western culture too. And, therefore, it's important to be aware of it, but not to be corrupted by it. Not to be polluted by it. Because it is a very powerfully-polluting little book. Very nasty little book. Let's not pretend otherwise.”