“The rising of birds in their flight is the sign of an ambuscade. Startled beasts indicate that a sudden attack is coming.”

“One mark of a great soldier is that he fight on his own terms or fights not at all.”

“To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.”

“Be where your enemy is not.”

“The Sun Tzu School Ping-fa Directive. Be strong and continually aware. Manage your strength and that of others. When essential, engage on your terms. Be observant, adaptive, and subtle. Do not lose control. Act decisively. Conclude quickly. Don't Fight!”

“The Sun Tzu School (which wrote the Art of War) surely never imagined that their antiwar, pro-empire treatise would become known and accepted after the fall of the first empire as a text on military tactics. Likewise, they would have been surprised to see the Ping-fa military metaphor—an inspired teaching device—come to be seen as the message and not the medium.”

“If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.”

“Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge.”

“All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.”

“Victory usually goes to the army who has better trained officers and men.”

“Invincibility lies in the defence the possibility of victory in the attack. ”