All warfare is based on deception.
The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.