Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

Generally in war the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this.

In war, numbers alone confer no advantage. Do not advance relying on sheer military power.

It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright and just, and thus maintain order.

If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.

The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy

There is nothing more difficult than tactical maneuvering. The difficult consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain. Thus, to take a long and circuitous route after enticing the enemy out of the way, and though starting after him to contrive to reach the goal before him, shows knowledge of the artifice of deviation.