Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment - that which they cannot anticipate.

The supreme excellence is not to win a hundred victories in a hundred battles. The supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies without having to fight them.

Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.

All war is deception.

Of old the expert in battle would first make himself invincible and then wait for his enemy to expose his vulnerability.

Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence.

So it is that good warriors take their stance on ground where they cannot lose, and do not overlook conditions that make an opponent prone to defeat.