Sun Tzu Quotes on Politics
The Art of War (Sunzi bingfa) — traditionally attributed to the sixth-century BC general Sun Tzu but probably the work of multiple authors compiled in the Warring States period — gave classical Chinese strategic thought its most enduring philosophical text. The central commitments — that the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting, that all warfare is based on deception, and that the wise commander wins through the careful prior assessment of the five fundamental factors (the Way, heaven, earth, the commander, method and discipline) before the engagement is joined — articulate a strategic philosophy whose application extends from the battlefield through statecraft to economic and political competition more broadly. The framework, transmitted through the East Asian military tradition and the Western reception from the eighteenth century onward, remains the canonical philosophical text on strategic action under conditions of conflict.
Quotes
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“All warfare is based on deception.”
兵者，詭道也。故能而示之不能，用而示之不用，近而示之遠，遠而示之近， -
Attributed to Sun Tzu:
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
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Attributed to Sun Tzu:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
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“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
是故勝兵先勝而後求戰，敗兵先戰而後求勝。 -
Attributed to Sun Tzu:
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”
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Attributed to Sun Tzu:
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory; tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
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“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death , a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”
兵者，國之大事 ，死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也。