He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious. He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.
If your opponent is of choleric temper, irritate him. The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand. The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare. Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. A thousand battles, a thousand victories. Hence it is a subject of inquiry that can on no account be neglected. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
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