The natural formation of the country is the soldier’s best ally; but a power of estimating the adversary, of controlling the forces of victory, and of shrewdly calculating difficulties, dangers and distances, constitutes the test of a great general.
Where these words come from
- Lots of sources credit Sun Tzu with this, and they agree with each other. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17405
More from Sun Tzu
See allIn the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.
Sun TzuAll warfare is based on deception.Sun TzuIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.Sun TzuThere is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.Sun TzuSupreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.Sun TzuThe Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.Sun Tzu
Sun TzuAll warfare is based on deception.Sun TzuIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.Sun TzuThere is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.Sun TzuSupreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.Sun TzuThe Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.Sun TzuMore on wisdom
The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.Sun TzuBy Method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the gradations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.Sun TzuNow the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought.Sun TzuThe general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.Sun TzuThus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.Sun TzuTherefore the skilful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.Sun Tzu
Sun TzuBy Method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the gradations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.Sun TzuNow the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought.Sun TzuThe general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.Sun TzuThus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.Sun TzuTherefore the skilful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.Sun Tzu