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

The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities...It is best to win without fighting.

When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal.

To capture the enemy's entire army is better than to destroy it; to take intact a regiment, a company, or a squad is better than to destroy them. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the supreme of excellence. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence.

It is through the dispositions of an army that its condition may be discovered. Conceal your dispositions, and your condition will remain secret, which leads to victory,; show your dispositions, and your condition will become patent, which leads to defeat.

Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems.

The sovereign must have full knowledge of the activities of the five sorts of agents. This knowledge must come from the double agents, and therefore it is mandatory that they be treated with the utmost liberality.