If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.
Whether you are creating a business strategy or devising steps to pursue a personal goal, these quotes from The Art of War may offer some valuable insights and guidance. Feign disorder, and crush him. Update History: On October 13, the February 24, citation was added and the conclusion was partially rewritten. In addition, precursors in , and were added. On October 20, the citation dated and was added together with the citation dated On October 25, the November 20, citation was added.
On April 18, the August 22, citation was added, and the conclusion was partially rewritten. Great thanks to James Shelley whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Additional thanks to Donna Halper who located the attribution to Churchill. She found an instance applied to a tax dispute and later examples applied to war.
Many thanks to John Van Hook who generously searched for a citation on microfilm. Thanks also to Barry Popik for his valuable research.
Many thanks to Suzanne Watkins for the and citations. Skip to content. Here are two variants: War does not determine who is right — only who is left. The atom bomb will never determine who is right — only who is left. Here are additional selected citations in chronological order. The ninth item presented on the list of reasons was the following precursor expression: 3 Because war does not decide who is right or who is wrong but simply who is strongest. Great thanks to researcher Suzanne Watkins who located the two citations given above.
Thus, the semantic thrust was different: 4 The man who is right is seldom left. This saying emphasized the centrality of strength in military conflicts: 5 War is simply the survival of the tiger and lion in man. However, QI has located no substantive support for this ascription: 10 War never decides any question of right or wrong. In fact it unsettled everything. The saying was accompanied with an acknowledgement to a Canadian newspaper: 14 War does not determine who is right — only who is left.
Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. Search within work. Neville Chamberlain — British Conservative statesman, Prime Minister —40 In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.
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