For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

Bestow rewards without regard to rule, issue orders without regard to previous arrangements; and you will be able to handle a whole army as though you had to do with but a single man.

In the tumult and uproar, the battle seems chaotic, but there is no disorder, the troops appear to be milling about in circles but cannot be defeated.

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.

Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army's ability to move.

The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.