Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.
Sun TzuRead
Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Understanding both your own strengths and weaknesses and those of your opponent is crucial for success in conflict.
This quote by Sun Tzu emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and awareness of the opponent in achieving victory. By knowing your own capabilities and limitations, as well as those of the enemy, you can strategize effectively and minimize the risks of failure, making informed decisions in challenging situations.
Themes
StrategySelf-AwarenessUnderstandingConflictVictory
In practice
Example use cases
During a leadership seminar to illustrate the importance of preparation.
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
The librarian spoke in a reverential whisper. Corliss knew she'd misjudged this passionate woman. Maybe she dressed poorly, but she was probably great in bed, certainly believed in God and goodness, and kept an illicit collection of overdue library books on her shelves.
Sherman AlexieRead
Men lose their tempers in defending their taste.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
People find ideas a bore because they do not distinguish between live ones and stuffed ones on a shelf.
Ezra PoundRead
The intellectual attainments of a man who thinks for himself resemble a fine painting, where the light and shade are correct, the tone sustained, the colour perfectly harmonised; it is true to life. On the other hand, the intellectual attainments of the mere man of learning are like a large palette, full of all sorts of colours, which at most are systematically arranged, but devoid of harmony, connection and meaning.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
Repentance and desires after holiness never be separated.
Charles SpurgeonRead
most men and women, by birth or nature, lack the means to advance in wealth or power, but all have the ability to advance in knowledge.
PythagorasRead