You cannot know if you will be successful or not. You can only prepare for battle and it must be done with all of your heart and with all of your consciousness. In that manner, you will have an edge.

A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.

Against those skilled in attack, an enemy does not know where to defend; against the experts in defense, the enemy does not know where to attack.

Nothing is more difficult than the art of maneuver. What is difficult about maneuver is to make the devious route the most direct and to turn misfortune to advantage.

And regulation entails organizational effectiveness, a chain of command, and a structure for logistical support.

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.

Opportunities increase as they are taken.