So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence.

The height of strategy, is to attack your opponent's strategy.

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

The business of a general is to kick away the ladder behind soldiers when they have climbed up a height.

Weak leadership can wreck the soundest strategy; forceful execution of even a poor plan can often bring victory.

If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.

Unless you know the mountains and the forests, the defiles and impasses, the lay of the marshes and swamps, you cannot maneuver with an armed force. Unless you use local guides, you cannot get the advantages of the land.