Sun Tzu Quotes

If the enemy has occupied them before you, do not follow him, but retreat and try to entice him away.

Do not press an enemy at bay.

Make a silver bridge for a fleeing enemy.

Perhaps if Hitler had had the wisdom to withdraw his troops and prepare for the defense of his own country, Germany, despite the loss of face this would entail in the losing of all Italy, then the course of the war, if not the outcome, would have been quite different.

If you find your opponent in a strong position costly to force, you should leave him a line of retreat as the quickest way of loosening his resistance. It should, equally, be a principle of policy, especially in war, to provide your opponent with a ladder by which he can climb down.

Laying siege to enemy-controlled cities allows attacking armies to keep their own casualties low by avoiding urban combat.

According to true military art, one should never push one's enemy to the point of despair, because such a state multiplies his strength and increases his courage which had already been crushed and failing, and because there is no better remedy for the health of beaten and overwhelmed men than the absence of all hope.

From a position of this sort, if the enemy is unprepared, you may sally forth and defeat him. But if the enemy is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.

It is imperative to contest all factions for complete victory, so the army is not garrisoned and the profit can be total. This is the law of strategic siege.

When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.

In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attractive bait, it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the enemy in his turn; then, when part of his army has come out, we may deliver our attack with advantage.

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

General," said the commander of the delinquent brigade, "I am persuaded that any further display of valor by my troops will bring them into collision with the enemy.

War, once declared, must be waged offensively, aggressively. The enemy must not be fended off; but smitten down. You may then spare him every exaction, relinquish every gain, but „til then he must be struck incessantly and remorselessly.

Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.

Never completely encircle your enemy. Leave him some escape, for he will fight even more desperately if trapped.

The American way of war is to build an army, then another, then a third, while building fleets. If the war is still on at that point we smash.

When you're up against a superior enemy, sometimes it's okay to just bow out gracefully

There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.

This does not mean that the enemy is to be allowed to escape. The object is to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair. After that, you may crush him.

The first law of war is to preserve ourselves and destroy the enemy.

No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

I have destroyed the enemy merely by marches.

It is certainly of great importance for a general to keep his plans secret; and Frederick the Great was right when he said that if his night-cap knew what was in his head he would throw it into the fire. That kind of secrecy was practicable in Frederick's time when his whole army was kept closely about him; but when maneuvers of the vastness of Napoleon's are executed, and war is waged as in our day, what concert of action can be expected from generals who are utterly ignorant of what is going on around them?

If America cannot win a war in a week, it begins negotiating with itself.