Quotes About Leadership

The secret of getting successful work out of your trained men lies in one nutshell—in the clearness of the instructions they receive.

Soldiers must be first treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept under control by means of iron discipline.

The Way means inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership

Continuer la lutte lorsqu'on est victorieux, c'est aussi bien diminuer ses propres forces qu'affaiblir le gage exigé du vaincu. (notes de L. Nachin (1948) sur l'article II)

The host thus forming a single united body, is it impossible either for the brave to advance alone, or for the cowardly to retreat alone

The Book of Army Management says: On the field of battle, the spoken word does not carry far enough: hence the institution of gongs and drums. Nor can ordinary objects be seen clearly enough: hence the institution of banners and flags.

Those who win every battle are not really skillful—those who render others' armies helpless without fighting are the best of all.

Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. 3.

It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. 3.    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. 4.    These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.

If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.

Therefore, the skillful commander imposes his will on the enemy by making the enemy come to him instead of being brought to the enemy.

8.    The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice. [Once war is declared, he will

To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

Using order to deal with the disorderly, using calm to deal with the clamorous, is mastering the heart.

the Completer and Wu Wang all used spears and battle-axes in order to succor their generation. The SSU-MA FA says: If one man slay another of set purpose, he himself

Their action and inaction are matters of strategy, and they cannot be pleased or angered.

If rewards are immoderate, there will be expenditure that does not result in gratitude; if punishments are immoderate, there will be slaughter that does not result in awe.

Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards. [Tu Mu says: Rewards

In raiding and plundering be like fire, is immovability like a mountain.

The victorious army is victorious first and seeks battle later; the defeated army seeks battle first and seeks victory later.

Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

A sovereign cannot raise an army because he is enraged, nor can a general fight because he is resentful. For while an angered many may again be happy, and a resentful man again be pleased, a state that has perished cannot be restored, nor can the dead be brought back to life. Therefore, the enlightened ruler is prudent and the good general is warned against rash action. Thus the state is kept secure and the army preserved.

Those who are able to adapt and change in accord with the enemy and achieve victory are called divine.

King's favorite 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?