Sun Tzu Quotes


We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors. We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country.


Citations

Tzu, Sun. The Art of War. Translated by Samuel B. Griffith, Oxford University Press, 1963, p. 104.

Related Quotes

What he does not consider is that a large number of Americans don’t want their government having grand strategies if there is no threat to the United States or no critical national interest. For them crises and threats are all that should occupy our foreign affairs.


Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu
  • Born:
  • Nationality: Chinese
  • Profession: Military General

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".