Don't flail against the world, use it. Flexibility is the operative principle in the art of war.

When torrential water tosses boulders, it is because of its momentum. When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing.

Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.

Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack.

Fierce language and pretentious advances are signs that the enemy is about to retreat.

All war is deception.

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.