All warfare is based on deception. There is no place where espionage is not used. Offer the enemy bait to lure him.

Therefore, to estimate the enemy situation and to calculate distances and the degree of difficulty of the terrain so as to control victory are virtues of the superior general.

Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered. Know the ground, know the weather; your victory will then be total.

All war is based on deception.

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

The good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce. If the enemy's troops march up angrily and remain facing ours for a long time without either joining battle or removing demands, the situation is one that requires great vigilance and circumspection. To begin by bluster, but afterward to take fright at the enemy's numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.