QuoteProject
As water shapes its flow in accordance with the ground, so an army manages its victory in accordance with the situation of the enemy.
Sun Tzu
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Adaptability and strategy are key to overcoming challenges.

This quote by Sun Tzu emphasizes the importance of being adaptable in strategy and decision-making. Just as water flows according to the terrain, a successful army must adjust its tactics based on the circumstances presented by the enemy, highlighting the necessity of flexibility in achieving victory.

Themes

AdaptabilityStrategyVictoryEnemyFlexibility

In practice

Example use cases

In a business meeting discussing project management strategies.

More from Sun Tzu

Who does not know the evils of war cannot appreciate its benefits.
Sun TzuRead
Great 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

It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
Never let yesterday use up too much of today.
Will RogersRead
She says it has nothing to do with what you look like, or what you have. It has only to do with what you think of and what you do.
Frances Hodgson BurnettRead
There are times in all of our lives when a reliance on gut or intuition just seems more appropriate - when a particular course of action just feels right.
Tim CookRead
My father, my mother, and then my father was always on top of me - 'Keep your nose clean. Do you love what you're doing?' 'Yes.' 'Then be aware, or you're going to lose it.'
Paul AnkaRead
As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation -- either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.