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" The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim. "

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

" Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance. "

" 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. "

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

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

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

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

" 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. "

" Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory. "

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards. "

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

" 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. "

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

" 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. "

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

" If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory. "

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

" He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious. "

" Of all those in the army close to the commander none is more intimate than the secret agent; of all rewards none more liberal than those given to secret agents; of all matters none is more confidential than those relating to secret operations. "

" To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

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

" 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. "