Sun Tzu Quotes
One whose troops repeatedly congregate in small groups here and there, whispering together, has lost the masses. One who frequently grants rewards is in deep distress. One who frequently imposes punishments is in great difficulty. One who is at first excessively brutal and then fears the masses is the pinnacle of stupidity.
Tzu, Sun. The Art of War. Translated by Ralph D. Sawyer, Westview Press, 1994.
Adolphus W. Greely was an Arctic explorer whose party suffered enormous physical hardship in their search to find land north of Greenland. It was rumored that in order to survive, the party engaged in cannibalism of their already dead comrades. Greely was promoted to general to the dismay of some:
If the economy is strong voters will often ignore of forgive leadership failures. But not in a poor economy.
Sun Tzu was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer, and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, an influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thinking. His works focus much more on alternatives to battle, such as stratagem, delay, the use of spies and alternatives to war itself, the making and keeping of alliances, the uses of deceit, and a willingness to submit, at least temporarily, to more powerful foes. Sun Tzu is revered in Chinese and East Asian culture as a legendary historical and military figure. His birth name was Sun Wu and he was known outside of his family by his courtesy name Changqing. The name Sun Tzu by which he is best known in the Western World is an honorific which means "Master Sun".
