Quotes by Sun Tzu

About Sun Tzu:

Sun Tzu is best known by is actually an honorific which means "Master Sun": His birth name was Sun Wu and he was known outside of his family by his courtesy name Changqing. He is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, an extremely influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy. Sun Tzu has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture, both as the author of The Art of War and as a legendary historical figure.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain in eve...

Sun Tzu

Know the enemy, know yourself and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles.

Sun Tzu

Every battle is won before it is ever fought.

Sun Tzu

Foreknowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits, cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions of the enemy.

Sun Tzu

Plan for what it is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small.

Sun Tzu

Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.

Sun Tzu

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

Sun Tzu

It is best to keep one’s own state intact; to crush the enemy’s state is only second best.

Sun Tzu

It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.

Sun Tzu

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.

Sun Tzu

You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.

Sun Tzu

If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. ...

Sun Tzu

A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return.

Sun Tzu

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 i...

Sun Tzu

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

Sun Tzu

O maior remédio utilizado contra os desígnios do inimigo é fazeres voluntariamente aquilo que ele planeja que tu faças à força, porque fazendo-o de forma voluntária, tu o fazes com ordem e para vantagem tua e desvantagem dele; se o fizesses à...

Sun Tzu

Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.

Sun Tzu

Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

Sun Tzu

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

Sun Tzu

If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.

Sun Tzu

it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

Sun Tzu

Author Bio

  • NameSun Tzu
  • Descriptionancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty
  • Born543 BCE
  • Died495 BCE
  • CountryPeople's Republic Of China
  • ProfessionWriter; Philosopher