The dance of battle is always played to the same impatient rhythm. What begins in a surge of violent motion is always reduced to the perfectly still.

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

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

Quickness is the essence of the war.

Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.

Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise, for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.

The skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting.