Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.
Sun TzuRead
Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Know your strengths and weaknesses compared to your adversaries.
This quote by Sun Tzu emphasizes the importance of understanding both your own capabilities and those of your opponents in any competitive situation. By carefully analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each side, a strategist can make informed decisions that leverage their advantages while exploiting the deficiencies of their adversaries.
Themes
StrategyStrengthWeaknessOpponentBattle
In practice
Example use cases
In a business meeting to discuss competitive analysis.
More from Sun Tzu
All quotes βGreat results, can be achieved with small forces.
Sun TzuRead
To capture an enemies army is better than to destroy it.
Sun TzuRead
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.
Sun TzuRead
You can ensure the success of your attacks if you only attack places that are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. Therefore, that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
Sun TzuRead
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Sun TzuRead
Similar quotes
Faithfulness and sincerity are the highest things.
ConfuciusRead
I was blessed with a sense of my own destiny. I have never sold myself short. I have never judged myself by other people's standards. I have always expected a great deal of myself, and if I fail, I fail myself. So failure or reversal does not bring out resentment in me because I cannot blame others for any misfortune that befalls me.
Sophia LorenRead
If you put your hand into a fire, does anyone have to tell you to move it? Do you have to decide? No: When your hand starts to burn, it moves. You donβt have to direct it; the hand moves itself. In the same way, once you understand, through inquiry, that an untrue thought causes suffering, you move away from it.
Byron KatieRead
It is easy to be independent when you've got money. But to be independent when you haven't got a thing, that's the Lord's test.
Mahalia JacksonRead
The ability to dream is all I have to give. That is my responsibility; that is my burden. And even I grow tired.
Harlan EllisonRead
And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things too. Don't run out ahead of Him.
Corrie Ten BoomRead