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Know Yourself, Know Your Enemy
Victory comes from understanding both your own capabilities and your opponent's. Self-deception is the first defeat.
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Win Without Fighting
The highest skill is achieving your goals without destruction. Breaking resistance through strategy beats breaking it through force.
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All Warfare Is Deception
Appear weak when strong, strong when weak. Control what others perceive and you control their decisions.
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Speed Is the Essence
A swift, decisive action beats prolonged campaigns. Time drains resources, morale, and opportunity.
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Attack What Is Weak
Strike where resistance is lowest. Water flows around obstacles — so should your efforts.
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Shape Your Enemy
Make your opponent react to you, not the reverse. Those who arrive first at the battlefield control the terms.
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Be Formless
Rigid plans break under pressure. Adapt your strategy to circumstances like water adapts to its container.
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Use the Ground
Terrain shapes possibility. Whether physical, social, or market — master your environment before engaging.
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Unity of Command
Divided leadership means divided purpose. One clear vision, communicated well, moves armies.
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Reward and Discipline
Excellence must be recognized, failures addressed. Consistent standards create reliable forces.
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Use Spies Wisely
Information is the foundation of victory. Invest heavily in knowing what others wish to hide.
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Create Opportunities
Don't wait for the perfect moment — manufacture it. Disorder in the enemy comes from your own order.
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Burn the Boats
Soldiers fight hardest with no retreat. Sometimes removing options focuses the mind on victory.
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Calculate Before Moving
Victory is determined before battle begins through planning. The general who calculates more, wins more.
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Avoid What Is Strong
Never attack an enemy's greatest strength directly. Go around, go under, go where they aren't looking.
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Momentum Over Effort
Position yourself where small actions create large results. Rolling a stone downhill takes less force than pushing uphill.
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Keep Them Guessing
Unpredictability is protection. When your enemy cannot anticipate you, they cannot prepare for you.
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Know When to Fight
Not every battle is worth winning. Choose engagements that advance your ultimate goal, decline those that don't.
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