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" Balk the enemy's power; force him to reveal himself. "

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

" Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. "

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

" Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared. "

" Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. "

" 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. "

" The enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution. "

" 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. "

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

" He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. "

" If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity. "

" 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. "

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

" If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack. "

" When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce. "

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

" The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. "

" There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited. "

" He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. "

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

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

" The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand. "

" If fighting is sure to result in victory, than you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding. "

" Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories. "

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

" If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril. "

" Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and you know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and you know Earth, you may make your victory complete. "