Winning isn't enough. The acme of all skill is to defeat your enemy before taking the field.

To a surrounded enemy, you must leave a way of escape.

You can prevent your opponent from defeating you through defense, but you cannot defeat him without taking the offensive.

One who has few must prepare against the enemy; one who has many makes the enemy prepare against him.

Those who do not know the plans of competitors cannot prepare alliances. Those who do not know the lay of the land cannot maneuver their forces. Those who do not use local guides cannot take advantage of the ground.

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.

Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another ten times its size, the result will be the flight of the former.