Sun Tzu
Chinese military general and strategist of the Eastern Zhou period, whose lifetime traditional historians dated to 544 to 496 BC; traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, though the earliest parts of the work probably date to at least a century after him.
Sun Tzu did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Our reading
Their wordsAll warfare is based on deception.
↗The Art of War, traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (tr. Lionel Giles, 1910)gutenberg.org 1st of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsThere is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
↗The Art of War, traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (tr. Lionel Giles, 1910)gutenberg.org 2nd of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsHence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
↗The Art of War, traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (tr. Lionel Giles, 1910)gutenberg.org 3rd of 7 in this piece
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Our reading
Someone who knows both the enemy and themselves need not fear the result of a hundred battles
Their wordsIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
↗The Art of War, traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (tr. Lionel Giles, 1910)gutenberg.org 4th of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsTherefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.
↗The Art of War, traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (tr. Lionel Giles, 1910)gutenberg.org 5th of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsBut a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.
↗The Art of War, traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (tr. Lionel Giles, 1910)gutenberg.org 6th of 7 in this piece
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Our reading
Spies are a most important element in war because an army's ability to move depends on them
Their wordsSpies are a most important element in war, because on them depends an army’s ability to move.
↗The Art of War, traditionally attributed to Sun Tzu (tr. Lionel Giles, 1910)gutenberg.org 7th of 7 in this piece
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