All wars are won or lost before they are ever fought.

An army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.

Like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

Victory is the main object in war.

Those skilled at making the enemy move do so by creating a situation to which he must conform; they entice him with something he is certain to take, and with lures of ostensible profit they await him in strength.

Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot.

Someone unfamiliar with the mountains and forests cannot advance [the team]. One who does not employ local guides cannot gain the advantage.