Carl von Clausewitz Quotes

What matters in the Sun-tzu universe are not positions of strength and power, but situations in which you have options, full of potential force.

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

GSP knows how to use a lot of strategy.

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak. 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.

One who has few must prepare against the enemy; one who has many makes the enemy prepare against him.

It is much easier to put existing resources to better use, than to develop resources where they do not exist.

Took awhile, got the jokers out of the deck now, I'm holdin all the cards and niggas wanna play chess now

If I am able to determine the enemy's dispositions while at the same time I conceal my own, then I can concentrate and he must divide.

I have often said China is not lacking in material resources. The question is whether we can make full and good use of them.

Luck is of little moment to the great general, for it is under the control of his intellect and his judgment.

He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

If you are a small company taking on a big company, you need to have a sense of humor.

Whoever is the first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy will be fresh for the fight... Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy... By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.

Those who do not know the plans of competitors cannot prepare alliances. Those who do not know the lay of the land cannot maneuver their forces. Those who do not use local guides cannot take advantage of the ground.

In a battle, as in a siege, the art consists in concentrating very heavy fire on a particular point. The line of battle once established, the one who has the ability to concentrate an unlooked for mass of artillery suddenly and unexpectedly on one of these points is sure to carry the day.

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.

Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measure of far and near wins - this is the rule of armed struggle.

We can't run out of resources. Resources exist when the human mind sees how to use something.

The expert in battle seeks his victory from strategic advantage and does not demand it from his men.

Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose.

People working on bigger ideas on a more protracted timeline will be more on the stealth side. They aren’t releasing new PR announcements every day. The bigger the secret and the likelier it is that you alone have it, the more time you have to execute. There may be far more people going after hard secrets than we think.

What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.

If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.

A strategy that doesn't take into account resources is doomed to failure.