![]() ![]() It is best to keep one’s own state intact to crush the enemy’s state is only second best.So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them. In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact to shatter and destroy it is not so good.He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities.Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill.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, defend against them if weaker, be able to avoid them.Literal translation: Know other, know self, hundred battles without danger not knowing other but know self, one win one loss not knowing other, not knowing self, every battle must lost.Know not thy enemy nor yourself, wallow in defeat every time. Know yourself but not your enemy, find level of loss and victory. Know your enemy and know yourself, find naught in fear for 100 battles.If you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles if you do not know others but know yourself, you win one and lose one if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.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.What is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare. ![]()
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