Order or disorder depends on organisation and direction; courage or cowardice on circumstances; strength or weakness on tactical dispositions.

Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.

When he pretends to flee, do not pursue.

When a general, unable to estimate the enemy's strength, allows an inferior force to engage a larger one, or hurls a weak detachment against a powerful one, and neglects to place picked soldiers in the front rank, the result must be rout.

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.

Hence the experienced soldier, once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss.