Sun Tzu

“Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.”

“La strategia è la via del paradosso. Così, chi è abile, si mostri maldestro; chi è utile, si mostri inutile. Chi è affabile, si mostri scostante; chi è scostante, si mostri affabile.”

“Put them in a spot where they have no place to go, and they will die before fleeing.”

“Война - это путь обмана. Поэтому, даже если [ты] способен,показывай противнику свою неспособность. Когда должен ввести в бойсвои силы, притворись бездеятельным. Когда [цель] близко, показывай,будто она далеко; когда же она действительн далеко, создавайвпечатление, что она близко. Изобрази выгоду, чтобы завлечь его. Сотвори беспорядок [в егосилах] и возьми его. Если он полон, приготовься; если он силен, избегай его. Если он в гневе, беспокой его; будь почтителен, чтобы он возомнил осебе. Если враг отдохнувший, заставь его напрячь силы. Если он объединен, разъедини его. Нападай там, где он не приготовился. Или вперед там, где он не ожидает. Таковы пути, которыми военные стратеги побеждают. Но о них нельзяговорить наперед.”

“Cualquiera que tenga forma puede ser definido, y cualquiera que pueda ser definido puede ser vencido.”

“Sun Tzu said: The art of war recognises nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) facile ground; (3) contentious ground; (4) open ground; (5) ground of intersecting highways; (6) serious ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemmed-in ground; (9) desperate ground.”

“The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.”

“Conceal your dispositions, and your condition will remain secret, which leads to victory;  show your dispositions, and your condition will become patent, which leads to defeat.”

“Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack.”

“Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive.”

“He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.”

“who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits”

“So long as victory can be attained,  stupid haste is preferable to clever dilatoriness.”

“who wishes to fight must first count the cost”

“do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat”

“These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.”

“Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”

“If his forces are united, separate them.”

“If your opponent is of choleric temper,  seek to irritate him.  Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”

“One mark of a great soldier is that he fight on his own terms or fights not at all.”

“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster”

“Foreknowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits, cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions of the enemy.”

“The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.”

“What enables the enlightened rulers and good generals to conquer the enemy at every move and achieve extraordinary success is foreknowledge.”

“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”

“He who advances without seeking fame,Who retreats without escaping blame,He whose one aim is to protect his people and serve his lord,The man is a jewel of the Realm”

“marshes”

“Supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”

“Every battle is won before it’s ever fought.”

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”

“The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.”

“There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.”

“Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.”

“Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory is won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.”

“Attack by Stratagem”

“Un viento diurno cesará al anochecer, un viento nocturno cesará al amanecer.”

“Ser violento al principio y terminar temiendo después a los propios soldados es el colmo de la ineptitud.”

“El valiente puede luchar, el cuidadoso puede hacer de centinela, y el inteligente puede estudiar, analizar y comunicar. Cada cuál es útil.”

“Si quieres fingir cobardía para conocer la estrategia de los adversarios, primero tienes que ser extremadamente valiente, porque solo entonces puedes actuar como tímido de manera artificial. Si quieres fingir debilidad para inducir a la arrogancia en tus enemigos, primero has de ser extremadamente fuerte porque solo entonces puedes pretender ser débil.”

“La invencibilidad está en uno mismo, la vulnerabilidad en el adversario. Por esto, los guerreros expertos pueden ser invencibles, pero no pueden hacer que sus adversarios sean vulnerables.”

“El arte de la guerra se basa en el engaño. Por lo tanto, cuando es capaz de atacar, ha de aparentar incapacidad; cuando las trampas se mueven, aparentar inactividad.”

“Cien vitorias en cien batallas no es la mayor habilidad. Someter al ejército de los otros sin batalla es la mayor habilidad.”

“Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”

“La milicia es un Tao de engaños:De modo que cuando seas capaz, muestra incapacidad. Cuando seas activo, muestra inactividad.Cuando estés cerca, haz creer que estás lejos. Cuando estés lejos, haz creer que estás cerca.De modo que cuando el enemigo busque ventajas,los atraerás. Cuando se halle confundido, lo conquistarás. Cuando tenga consistencia, prepárate a enfrentarte a él. Cuando sea fuerte, evítalo. Cuando esté airado, acósalo. Atácale cuando no esté preparado.Surge allí donde no te espere.”

“Sun Tzu Wu was a native of the Ch`i State. His Art of War brought him to the notice of Ho Lu, King of Wu. Ho Lu said to him: “I have carefully perused your 13 chapters. May I submit your theory of managing soldiers to a slight test?”

“By reinforcing every part, he weakens every part.”

“Those skilled at making the enemy move do so by creating a situation to which he must conform; they entice him with something he is certain to take, and with lures of ostensible profit they await him in strength.”

“Like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.”

“He will win whose army is animated by the spirit throughout all its ranks.”

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