Quotes About Leadership

If you do not take opportunity   to   advance and reward   the   deserving,   your subordinates will not carry out your commands, and disaster will ensue.

The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy's numbers, shows a supreme lack of intelligence.

Therefore the skillful 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.

He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

first lay plans which will ensure victory, and then lead your army to battle;  if you will not begin with stratagem but rely on brute strength alone, victory will no longer be assured

He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.

Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.

Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

and addressed them thus: "I presume you know the difference between front and back, right hand and left hand?

Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to capture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must be not attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.

When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance to meet it in mid-stream.  It will be best to let half the army get across, and then deliver your attack.

He will win whose army is animated by the spirit throughout all its ranks.

Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.

The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations.

Excessive rewards are a sign of desperation. Excessive punishments are a sign of exhaustion.

The answer was again in the affirmative, so arrangements were made to bring 180 ladies out of the Palace. Sun Tzu divided them into two companies, and placed one of the King's favourite concubines at the head of each. He then bade them all take spears in their hands, and addressed them thus: "I presume you know the difference between front and back, right hand and left hand?

A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return.

Sun Tzu Wu was a native of the Ch`i State. His Art of War brought him to the notice of Ho Lu, King of Wu. Ho Lu said to him: "I have carefully perused your 13 chapters. May I submit your theory of managing soldiers to a slight test?

The best military policy is to attack strategies; the next to attack alliances; the next to attack soldiers.

Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.