Sun Tzu was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer, and philosopher. He lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China. Here we have a good collection of Sun Tzu quotes on love, life, leadership, deception, opportunity, discipline, enemy, business, inspirational, and motivational.
Sun Tzu was born on Sun Wu 544 BC (traditional) Qi or Wu, Zhou Kingdom, and died on 496 BC (traditional; aged 47–48) Gusu, Wu, Zhou Kingdom.
Sun Tzu quotes
“If the enemy knows not where he will be attacked, he must prepare in every quarter, and so be everywhere weak.”― Sun Tzu
“Who wishes to fight must first count the cost” – Sun Tzu
“Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.” – Sun Tzu
“The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not to be swayed by petty doubts.” – Sun Tzu
“If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.” – Sun Tzu
“When the enemy is relaxed, make them toil. When full, starve them. When settled, make them move.” – Sun Tzu
“Those skilled in warfare move the enemy, and are not moved by the enemy.”― Sun Tzu
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” – Sun Tzu
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 Tzu
”The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.” – Sun Tzu
“Let your plans be dark and as impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.” – Sun Tzu
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”― Sun Tzu
“If words of command are not clear and distinct if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders are clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers.”― Sun Tzu
“There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare.” – Sun Tzu
“One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.” – Sun Tzu
“It is easy to love your friend, but sometimes the hardest lesson to learn is to love your enemy.” – Sun Tzu
“The skillful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man.” – Sun Tzu
“When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.” – Sun Tzu
“Sweat more during peace: bleed less during the war.” – Sun Tzu
“If the mind is willing, the flesh could go on and on without many things.” – Sun Tzu
“Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of the trigger.” – Sun Tzu
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy are the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu
“If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” – Sun Tzu
“What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins but excels in winning with ease.” – Sun Tzu
“Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?” – Sun Tzu
“Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.” – Sun Tzu
“Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.”― Sun Tzu
“When strong, avoid them. If of high morale, depress them. Seem humble to fill them with conceit. If at ease, exhaust them. If united, separate them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.” – Sun Tzu
“All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.” – Sun Tzu
“When your opponent gives you an opening, be swift as a hare.” – Sun Tzu
“Convince your enemy that he will gain very little by attacking you; this will diminish his enthusiasm.” – Sun Tzu
“The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.” – Sun Tzu
“For them to perceive the advantage of defeating the enemy, they must also have their rewards.” – Sun Tzu
“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” – Sun Tzu
“It is more important to out-think your enemy than to outfight him” – Sun Tzu
“Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain.” – Sun Tzu
“If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near.” – Sun Tzu
“The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.” – Sun Tzu
“The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.” – Sun Tzu
“He wins his battles by making no mistakes.”― Sun Tzu
“Do not press an enemy at bay.” – Sun Tzu
“All war is deception.” – Sun Tzu
“Every animal with blood in its veins and horns on its head will fight when it is attacked.”― Sun Tzu
“The victorious army is victorious first and seeks battle later; the defeated army seeks battle first and seeks victory later.”― Sun Tzu
“If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.”― Sun Tzu
“Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.” – Sun Tzu
“The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy so that he cannot fathom our real intent.” – Sun Tzu
“Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength.” – Sun Tzu
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” – Sun Tzu
“Those who win every battle are not really skillful—those who render others’ armies helpless without fighting are the best of all.”― Sun Tzu
”Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise, for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.” – Sun Tzu
“Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” – Sun Tzu
“The height of strategy is to attack your opponent’s strategy.” – Sun Tzu
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” – Sun Tzu
“Using order to deal with the disorderly, using calm to deal with the clamorous, is mastering the heart.”― Sun Tzu
“Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems.” – Sun Tzu
“The peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict unnecessary.” – Sun Tzu
“The line between disorder and order lies in logistics.” – Sun Tzu
“He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.” – Sun Tzu
“Rewards for good service should not be deferred a single day.” – Sun Tzu
“Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and sternness.”― Sun Tzu
“Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.” – Sun Tzu
“Know the enemy, know yourself and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles.”― Sun Tzu
“Do not engage an enemy more powerful than you. And if it is unavoidable and you do have to engage, then make sure you engage it on your terms, not on your enemy’s terms.” – Sun Tzu
“Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive.”― Sun Tzu
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” – Sun Tzu
“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.”― Sun Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
A good commander is benevolent and unconcerned with fame. – Sun Tzu
He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. – Sun Tzu
There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited. – Sun Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results. – Sun Tzu
Secret operations are essential in war; upon them, the army relies to make its every move. – Sun Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbids it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler’s bidding. – Sun Tzu
Quickness is the essence of the war. – Sun Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. – Sun Tzu
Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy. – Sun Tzu
Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance. – Sun Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack. – Sun Tzu
The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom. – Sun Tzu
Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting. – Sun Tzu
Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity needs to be feared. – Sun Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. – Sun Tzu
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 afterward looks for victory. – Sun Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting. – Sun Tzu
Hence 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 Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not will be victorious. – Sun Tzu
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. – 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 that can on no account be neglected. – Sun Tzu
Balk the enemy’s power; force him to reveal himself. – Sun Tzu
He knows when he can fight and when he cannot be victorious. – Sun Tzu
Victory usually goes to the army who has better-trained officers and men. – Sun Tzu
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. – Sun Tzu
To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence. – Sun Tzu
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