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

Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow.

Where the army is, prices are high; when prices rise the wealth of the people is exhausted.

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

If a battle can not be won do not fight it.

To capture an enemies army is better than to destroy it.

Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow...they have form but are formless. They are skilled in both planning and adapting and need not fear the result of a thousand battles: for they win in advance, defeating those that have already lost.