All SUN TZU Quotes about “Army”

“It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”
“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.”
“If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders are clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers.”
“The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.”
“The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.”
“A leader leads by example not by force.”
“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.”
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
“What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.”
“There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare.”
“When one treats people with benevolence, justice and righteousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders.”
“What is essential in war is victory, not prolonged operations.”
“The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.”
“The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.”
“It is the rule in war, if ten times the enemy's strength, surround them; if five times, attack them; if double, be able to divide them; if equal, engage them; if fewer, be able to evade them; if weaker, be able to avoid them.”
“An army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.”
“Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.”
“There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune on his army: By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army. By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds. By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.”
“Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces, the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.”
“Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety.”
“Management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization.”
“To capture the enemy's entire army is better than to destroy it; to take intact a regiment, a company, or a squad is better than to destroy them. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the supreme of excellence. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence.”
“Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.”
“The true objective of war is peace.”
“Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, 1 but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganisation; (6) rout.”

More Sun Tzu quote about:

You may also like:

Benjamin Franklin
Founding Father of the United States
Carl von Clausewitz
Military Historian
Confucius
Philosopher
Laozi
Philosopher
Mao Zedong
Former Chairman of the Communist Party of China
Marcus Aurelius
Roman emperor
Mencius
Philosopher
Miyamoto Musashi
Author
Niccolo Machiavelli
Historian
Qin Shi Huang
King
Sun Bin
Author
Zhuge Liang
Inventor