Sun Tzu, answered from the texts and cited to the page.
War is the province of life and death.1 That is where the thirteen chapters begin, and it is where they never stop: every precept in them is a precept about survival — of the army, of the state, of the men who serve both. The art rests on five constant factors that govern every campaign before a soldier moves.2 Heaven and Earth fix the conditions — season, terrain, the distances an army must cross and the passes it must hold.3
The Commander carries the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness.4 Method and discipline bind the army into an instrument that can be directed.5 These are not ornaments; he who knows them will be victorious, and he who does not will fail.6 But knowing your own condition is only half the reckoning. What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike beyond the reach of ordinary men is foreknowledge — knowledge of the enemy's condition, read from men, not from omens or the stars.7
The summit of the art is not the pitched battle won at great cost. The skilful leader subdues the enemy's troops without fighting, captures cities without siege, overthrows kingdoms without lengthy operations.8 A hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the acme of skill; to break the enemy's resistance without fighting is.9 And the foundation beneath all of it is this: know the enemy and know yourself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.10
That is what the thirteen chapters are about — not glory, not honour, not the love of war, but the cold and careful art of winning it at the least possible cost.
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.The Art of War
The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.The Art of War
Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.The Art of War
The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.The Art of War
By Method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the gradations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.The Art of War
These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.The Art of War
Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.The Art of War
The skilful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.The Art of War
With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete.The Art of War
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.The Art of War