Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.

It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results.

Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army's ability to move.

To ... not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of virtues.

He who relies solely on warlike measures shall be exterminated; he who relies solely on peaceful measures shall perish.

When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food.

Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another ten times its size, the result will be the flight of the former.