QuoteProject
Generally in war the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this.
Sun Tzu
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

In warfare, it is wiser to maintain the integrity of a state rather than to destroy it.

This quote by Sun Tzu emphasizes the importance of preserving the strength and resources of a state in war. Instead of focusing on total destruction, which can be counterproductive, the strategy should aim at gaining control while allowing the state to remain functional, ultimately leading to better outcomes in governance and resource management after the conflict.

Themes

WarStrategyPreservationIntegrityPolicy

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about military strategy at a conference.

More from Sun Tzu

Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.
Sun TzuRead
Great results, can be achieved with small forces.
Sun TzuRead
To capture an enemies army is better than to destroy it.
Sun TzuRead
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.
Sun TzuRead
You can ensure the success of your attacks if you only attack places that are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. Therefore, that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
Sun TzuRead
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.
Sun TzuRead

Similar quotes

The mission of the press is to spread culture while destroying the attention span.
Karl KrausRead
No, no, one can imagine nothing in the world, not the least thing. Everything is composed of so many isolated details that are not to be foreseen. In one's imagining one passes over them and hasty as one is doesn't notice that they are missing. But realities are slow and indescribably detailed.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
Sin contains its own judgement and punishment.
Dalai LamaRead
And why do you think that foolishness is bad? If human foolishness had been as carefully nurtured and cultivated as intelligence has been for centuries, perhaps it would have turned into something extremely precious.
Yevgeny ZamyatinRead
I didn't know what to say. I felt like crying, Goddammit everybody in the world wants an explanation for your acts and for your very being.
Jack KerouacRead
The physical body is acknowledged as dust, the personal drama as delusion. It is as if the world we perceive through our senses, the whole gorgeous and terrible pageant, were the breath-thin surface of a bubble, and everything else, inside and outside, is pure radiance. Both suffering and joy come then like a brief reflection, and death like a pin.
Stephen MitchellRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.