Sun Tzu Quotes About Victory
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Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and you know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you now Heaven and you know Earth, you may make your victory complete.
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In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack.. the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.
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In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.
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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.
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In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.
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Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered. Know the ground, know the weather; your victory will then be total.
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Therefore, to estimate the enemy situation and to calculate distances and the degree of difficulty of the terrain so as to control victory are virtues of the superior general.
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According to my assessment, even if you have many more troops than others, how can that help you to victory?
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If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.
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Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
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Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards... Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.
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Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
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The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.
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It is according to the shapes that I lay the plans for victory, but the multitude does not comprehend this. Although everyone can see the outward aspects, none understands the way in which I have created victory.
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To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.
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So a military force has no constant formation, water has no constant shape: the ability to gain victory by changing and adapting according to the opponent is called genius.
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Invincibility is in oneself, and vulnerability is in the opponent. Invincibility is a matter of defense, vulnerability is a matter of attack. Therefore skillful warriors are able to be invincible, but they cannot cause opponents to be vulnerable. That is why it is said that victory is discerned and not manufactured.
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The expert in battle seeks his victory from strategic advantage and does not demand it from his men.
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If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
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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.
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Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.
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As water shapes its flow in accordance with the ground, so an army manages its victory in accordance with the situation of the enemy.
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The supreme excellence is not to win a hundred victories in a hundred battles. The supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies without having to fight them.
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In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
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The one who figures on victory at headquarters before even doing battle is the one who has the most strategic factors on his side.
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Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack.
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In conflict, straightforward actions generally lead to engagement, surprising actions generally lead to victory.
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When I have won a victory I do not repeat my tactics but respond to circumstances in an infinite variety of ways.
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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.
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The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities...It is best to win without fighting.
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