112 Inspirational Strategy Quotes

In today's fast-paced world, strategic thinking is more crucial than ever for personal and professional success. Whether you're leading a team, building a career, or navigating life's unpredictable paths, a well-crafted strategy can be your compass. To fuel your journey and inspire thoughtful planning, we've gathered a curated collection of the top 112 inspirational strategy quotes. These words of wisdom, shared by visionary leaders and thinkers, offer timeless insights to help you refine your approach, embrace challenges, and turn your dreams into reality. Dive in and let these powerful quotes ignite your strategic prowess.

1. “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

2. “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

3. “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” - Oscar Wilde

4. “Gentlemen, when the enemy is committed to a mistake we must not interrupt him too soon.” - Horatio Nelson

5. “Resilience is based on the ability to embrace the extremes -- while no becoming an extremist. ... **Most companies don't do paradox very well.**(emphasis by author)[2002] p.25f” - Gary Hamel

6. “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win” - Sun Tzu

7. “A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.” - Baltasar Gracian

8. “Perpetual Optimism is a Force Multiplier.” - Colin Powell

9. “Our knowledge of circumstances has increased, but our uncertainty, instead of having diminished, has only increased. The reason of this is, that we do not gain all our experience at once, but by degrees; so our determinations continue to be assailed incessantly by fresh experience; and the mind, if we may use the expression, must always be under arms.” - Carl von Clausewitz

10. “Never send a battalion to take a hill if a regiment is available.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

11. “Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft!” - Theodore Roosevelt

12. “The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy's cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him.” - Miyamoto Musashi

13. “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” - Sun Tzu

14. “When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.” - Sun Tzu

15. “The man of thought who will not act is ineffective; the man of action who will not think is dangerous.” - Richard M. Nixon

16. “If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected .” - Sun Tzu

17. “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.” - Sun Tzu

18. “I like football. I find its an exciting strategic game. Its a great way to avoid conversation with your family at Thanksgiving.” - Craig Ferguson

19. “Every advantage is temporary.” - Katerina Stoykova Klemer

20. “I need you to be clever, Bean. I need you to think of solutions to problems we haven't seen yet. I want you to try things that no one has ever tried because they're absolutely stupid.” - Orson Scott Card

21. “You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” - Alvin Toffler

22. “...this protracted war will pass through three stages. The first stage covers the period of the enemy's strategic offensive and our strategic defensive. The second stage will be the period of the enemy's strategic consolidation and our preparation for the counter-offensive. The third stage will be the period of our strategic counter-offensive and the enemy's strategic retreat.” - Mao Zedong

23. “Study the past if you would define the future.” - Confucius

24. “Can you define "plan" as "a loose sequence of manifestly inadequate observations and conjectures, held together by panic, indecision, and ignorance"? If so, it was a very good plan.” - Jonathan Stroud

25. “The secret of success in battle lies often not so much in the use of one's own strength but in the exploitation of the other side's weaknesses.” - John Christopher

26. “The War Department in Washington briefly weighed more ambitious schemes to relieve the Americans on a large scale before it was too late. But by Christmas of 1941, Washington had already come to regard Bataan as a lost cause. President Roosevelt had decided to concentrate American resources primarily in the European theater rather than attempt to fight an all-out war on two distant fronts. At odds with the emerging master strategy for winning the war, the remote outpost of Bataan lay doomed. By late December, President Roosevelt and War Secretary Henry Stimson had confided to Winston Churchill that they had regrettably written off the Philippines. In a particularly chilly phrase that was later to become famous, Stimson had remarked, 'There are times when men have to die.” - Hampton Sides

27. “When one treats people with benevolence, justice, and righteoousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders'.” - Sun Tzu

28. “We each sell alittle piece of happiness. You are elevating someone's spirit in some way, and to do that you have to understand the source of their angst and then you have to frame your product as a solution.” - Sonia Marciano

29. “The more bullets flying, the less accurate each individual slug has to be.” - Andrew Vachss

30. “The worst place to be is in the middle. When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.” - Andrew Vachss

31. “I'd paralyze anyone who wanted to hurt me.” - Toba Beta

32. “When you are dealing with an invisible enemy,use most resources as shield, and a bit as a bait.” - Toba Beta

33. “The eminent strategy had won yesterday,but defeat will be felt by enemy tomorrow.” - Toba Beta

34. “If you don't have a righteous objective,eventually you will suffer. When you do the right thing for the right reason,the right result awaits.” - Chin Ning Chu

35. “This is stupid.""Look. You think how stupid people are most of the time. Old men drink. Women at a village fair. Boys throwing stones at birds. Life. The foolishness and the vanity, the selfishness and the waste. The pettiness, the silliness. You think in war it must be different. Must be better. With death around the corner, men united against hardship, the cunning of the enemy, people must think harder, faster, be...better. Be heroic.Only it's just the same. In fact do you know, because of all that pressure, and worry, and fear, it's worse. There aren't many men who think clearest when the stakes are highest. So people are even stupider in war than the rest of the time. Thinking about how they'll dodge the blame, or grab the glory, or save their skins, rather than about what will actually work. There's no job that forgives stupidity more than soldiering. No job that encourages it more.” - Joe Abercrombie

36. “Camouflage doesn't help when the other guy is willing to defoliate the whole jungle.” - Andrew Vachss

37. “No one can take the shot for you.” - Lorii Myers

38. “No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.” - Horatio Nelson

39. “A strategic victory seen as luck by laymen.” - Toba Beta

40. “In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.” - Niccolo Machiavelli

41. “Any man who retreats into a cave which has only one opening deserves to die.” - Frank Herbert

42. “Make foes of bowmen if you must,Never of penmen.” - Tiruvalluvar

43. “In my experience, the content strategist is a rare breed who's often willing and able to embrace whatever role is necessary to deliver on the promise of useful, useable content.” - Kristina Halvorson

44. “If your enemy offers you two targets, strike at a third.” - Robert Jordan

45. “Always leave a way out, unless you really want to find out how hard a man can fight when he’s nothing to lose.” - Robert Jordan

46. “Maxim 20: If you’re not willing to shell your own position, you’re not willing to win.-The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries” - Howard Tayler

47. “Mi táctica es mirarte aprender como sos quererte como sosmi táctica es hablarte y escucharte construir con palabras un puente indestructiblemi táctica es quedarme en tu recuerdo no sé cómo ni sé con qué pretexto pero quedarme en vosmi táctica es ser franco y saber que sos franca y que no nos vendamos simulacros para que entre los dosno haya telón ni abismosmi estrategia es en cambio más profunda y más simple mi estrategia es que un día cualquiera no sé cómo ni sé con qué pretexto por fin me necesites” - Mario Benedetti Táctica y estrategia

48. “Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.” - Sun Tzu

49. “Strategy is about shaping the future.” - Max Mckeown

50. “Strategy was first used in Athens (508 BC) to describe the art of leadership used by the ten generals on the war council. Some argue for the more creative, human side, while others argue for the more analytic side of strategy.” - Max Mckeown

51. “Strategy is about out-thinking your competition. Mark Zuckerberg, while at Harvard, built a website called Facemash ‘for fun’. Even today, Facebook believe that ‘done is better than perfect’.” - Max Mckeown

52. “Give serious thought to why your company should care about your strategy. Specifically, find problems that the board wants to be solved. What are senior managers scared of? Part of becoming a credible strategic thinker is learning effective approaches to selling ideas for your situation. You’ll know that you’re getting better at selling (or pitching) strategy when managers start coming to you when there is strategic thinking to be done.” - Max Mckeown

53. “Look beyond what you can see, Think Potential” - Samer Chidiac

54. “It is a good thing to make a bridge of gold to a flying enemy” - Robert Louis Stevenson

55. “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.” - Sun Tzu

56. “The doctrine of "exit strategy" fundamentally misunderstands the nature of war and, more generally, the nature of historical action. for the knowledge of the end is not given to us at the beginning.” - Leon Wieseltier

57. “To withdraw isn't a sign of weakness... It is a sign that a man knows the limits of his capabilities and the most probable outcome of the future. One who retreats to fight another day isn't running away, but looking for another road towards the same destination.” - Lionel Suggs

58. “Consider and then act, don't react. A worthy opponent will calculate his move to entice a response from you. Make your own play.” - R.D. Ronald

59. “When God plays chess, you will notice that he never has to move a single piece...in order to win.” - Lionel Suggs

60. “Learn how to think a few moves ahead at once. In life, if you can anticipate the human mind, you can anticipate all possible futures.” - Lionel Suggs

61. “Every step in life is merely part of a game. Every piece is necessary, but if you do not know how to control the game, then you become one of the pieces that are meant to be sacrificed.” - Lionel Suggs

62. “Sturm, Swung, Wucht” - Erwin Rommel

63. “Brilliant strategy is the best route to desirable ends with available means.” - Max Mckeown

64. “A great strategy meeting is a meeting of minds.” - Max Mckeown

65. “With a clever strategy, each action is self-reinforcing. Each action creates more options that are mutually beneficial. Each victory is not just for today but for tomorrow.” - Max Mckeown

66. “Following the rules of your industry will only get you so far.” - Max Mckeown

67. “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity” - Sun Tzu

68. “Wine gives one 'ideas,' whereas champagne gives one 'strategies.” - Roman Payne

69. “Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win.” - Max Mckeown

70. “The real heart of strategy is the strategist.” - Max Mckeown

71. “..the best strategy for giving is a two-fold approach: a basic plan combined with a willingness to consider spontaneous giving when unique opportunities arise.” - Andy Stanley

72. “Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.” - Alice Schroeder

73. “Whenever we want to combat our enemies, first and foremost we must start by understanding them rather than exaggerating their motives.” - Criss Jami

74. “If you drop assumptions, and can anticipate the possibilities, you can master the art of strategy. However, if you can only manipulate probability, you can only create a path to victory. But remember, plans can break down. The future is always a step ahead of you. The key is being able to manipulate probability and plan for uncertainty. This way, you don't have to create a path to victory, but manipulate all options so that all paths lead to a victory.” - Lionel Suggs

75. “It was badly received by the generation to which it was first addressed, and the outpouring of angry nonsense to which it gave rise is sad to think upon. But the present generation will probably behave just as badly if another Darwin should arise, and inflict upon them that which the generality of mankind most hate—the necessity of revising their convictions. Let them, then, be charitable to us ancients; and if they behave no better than the men of my day to some new benefactor, let them recollect that, after all, our wrath did not come to much, and vented itself chiefly in the bad language of sanctimonious scolds. Let them as speedily perform a strategic right-about-face, and follow the truth wherever it leads.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

76. “A man may plant a tree for a number of reasons. Perhaps he likes trees. Perhaps he wants shelter. Or perhaps he knows that someday he may need the firewood.” - Joanne Harris

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

78. “If his forces are united, separate them.” - Sun Tzu

79. “Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.” - Sun Tzu

80. “These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.” - Sun Tzu

81. “do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat” - Sun Tzu

82. “who wishes to fight must first count the cost” - Sun Tzu

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

84. “who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits” - Sun Tzu

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

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

87. “Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack.” - Sun Tzu

88. “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.” - Sun Tzu

89. “first lay plans which will ensure victory, and then lead your army to battle;  if you will not begin with stratagem but rely on brute strength alone, victory will no longer be assured” - Sun Tzu

90. “Great results, can be achieved with small forces.” - Sun Tzu

91. “You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.” - Sun Tzu

92. “If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.” - Sun Tzu

93. “We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.” - Sun Tzu

94. “We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country -- its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps.” - Sun Tzu

95. “Bravery without forethought, causes a man to fight blindly and desperately like a mad bull.  Such an opponent, must not be encountered with brute force, but may be lured into an ambush and slain.” - Sun Tzu

96. “When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance to meet it in mid-stream.  It will be best to let half the army get across, and then deliver your attack.” - Sun Tzu

97. “If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst. [One may know the condition of a whole army from the behavior of a single man.]” - Sun Tzu

98. “If there is disturbance in the camp, the general's authority is weak. ” - Sun Tzu

99. “When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is INSUBORDINATION.” - Sun Tzu

100. “When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is COLLAPSE.” - Sun Tzu

101. “the worst calamities that befall an army arise from hesitation” - Sun Tzu

102. “When your army has crossed the border, you should burn your boats and bridges, in order to make it clear to everybody that you have no hankering after home.” - Sun Tzu

103. “The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage which all must reach.” - Sun Tzu

104. “When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy.” - Sun Tzu

105. “Danger has a bracing effect.” - Sun Tzu

106. “Be stern in the council-chamber, [Show no weakness, and insist on your plans being ratified by the sovereign.] so that you may control the situation.” - Sun Tzu

107. “Conform to the enemy's tactics until a favorable opportunity offers; then come forth and engage in a battle that shall prove decisive.” - Sun Tzu

108. “At first, then, exhibit the coyness of a maiden,  until the enemy gives you an opening; afterwards emulate the rapidity of a running hare, and it will be too late for the enemy to oppose you.” - Sun Tzu

109. “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.” - Sun Tzu

110. “Rewards for good service should not be deferred a single day.” - Sun Tzu

111. “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.” - Sun Tzu

112. “If every day at work feels like a Friday, then you are doing what you were meant to do.” - Alan W. Kennedy