Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence.
Therefore a victorious army first wins and then seeks battle; a defeated army first battles and then seeks victory.
When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become, as it were, like rolling logs or stones... The energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height.
What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.
A battle avoided cannot be lost.
He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.