Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with your enemy.

Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never peril.

Attack the enemy's strategy.

Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.

The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands

The skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting.

Every battle is won before it is fought.