“A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return.”
More from Sun Tzu on Wisdom
“Know the enemy, know yourself and victory is never in doubt, not in a hundred battles.”
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
“Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.”
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”
“Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.”
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, 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.”
“One need not destroy one's enemy. One need only destroy his willingness to engage.”
“Every battle is won before it is fought.”
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
Others on Wisdom
Dalai Lama
22 quotes“A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.”
Cervantes
20 quotes“Honesty's the best policy.”
Aesop
19 quotes“Do not waste your pity on a scamp.”
Confucius
19 quotes“If a man take no thought about what is distant he will find sorrow near at hand.”
Ben Franklin
18 quotes“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”
Napoleon
16 quotes“One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.”
Cicero
15 quotes“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
William Penn
14 quotes“Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be...”
George R.R. Martin
14 quotes“A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward.”
Rudyard Kipling
14 quotes“One paid for one's knowledge with one's skin.”
Sir Winston Churchill
14 quotes“...anger is a waste of energy. Steam which is used to blow off a safety valve would be better used to drive an engine.”
George Washington
14 quotes“I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy.”