It is the business of a general to be serene and inscrutable, impartial and self-controlled.

Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle

The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.

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.

The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.

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