Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.
Sun TzuRead
If asked how to cope with a great host of the enemy in orderly array and on the point of marching to the attack, I should say: "Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will." Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Strategic thinking can turn the tides of conflict by exploiting the opponent's weaknesses.
This quote by Sun Tzu emphasizes the importance of strategy in warfare. It suggests that to successfully confront an enemy, one must identify and target what the enemy values most, thereby manipulating their response. Speed and unpredictability are crucial tactics; by catching the opponent off guard and exploiting their vulnerabilities, victory can be achieved more easily.
Themes
StrategyWarfareTacticsDeceptionVictoryOpponent
In practice
Example use cases
A military leader may quote this in a strategy meeting to emphasize the importance of identifying and exploiting enemy weaknesses.
More from Sun Tzu
All quotes →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
Nationalism: One of the effective ways in which the modern man escapes life's ethical problems.
Reinhold NiebuhrRead
When I consider this carefully, I find not a single property which with certainty separates the waking state from the dream. How can you be certain that your whole life is not a dream?
Rene DescartesRead
Brittle masculinity, in the right setting, becomes political atrocity. Strength brings problems; weakness brings others, but weakness posing as strength is the most dangerous of all.
Timothy D. SnyderRead
There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter — the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something.
E. B. WhiteRead
It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction - to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens.
George WashingtonRead
The fundamental character of our faith means an extensive diversity is required not only within local community, but between communities.
Stanley HauerwasRead