Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.

In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them.

He who wishes to fight must first count the cost

Defeat the enemies strategy.

This does not mean that the enemy is to be allowed to escape. The object is to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair. After that, you may crush him.

The general must be the first in the toils and fatigues of the army. In the heat of summer he does not spread his parasol nor in the cold of winter don thick clothing. In dangerous places he must dismount and walk. He waits until the army's wells have been dug and only then drinks; until the army's food is cooked before he eats; until the army's fortifications have been completed, to shelter himself.