Generally in war the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this.

He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

So it is that good warriors take their stance on ground where they cannot lose, and do not overlook conditions that make an opponent prone to defeat.

In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack.. the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.

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

If the mind is willing, the flesh could go on and on without many things.

Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.