Secret Squirrel's blog: "art"

lately i have been going over the art of war by sun tzu. lately i only have a smaller digital version of the original, my paper copy was destroyed by stupidity. http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html < that is a link so you can read if you like. what i gathered from my first two times reading the much longer version is that to really understand it completely is to read over it many times taking with it what you need. i just thought i would share what jumped out at me this time through.

Chapter 1:

16. While heading the profit of my counsel,
    avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances
    over and beyond the ordinary rules.

17. According as circumstances are favorable,
    one should modify one's plans.

18. All warfare is based on deception.

19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable;
    when using our forces, we must seem 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.

20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy.  Feign disorder,
    and crush him.

21. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. 
    If he is in superior strength, evade him.

22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to
    irritate him.  Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

23. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. 
    If his forces are united, separate them.

24. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where
    you are not expected.

25. These military devices, leading to victory,
    must not be divulged beforehand.

26. Now the general who wins a battle makes many
    calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. 
    The general who loses a battle makes but few
    calculations beforehand.  Thus do many calculations
    lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: 
    how much more no calculation at all!  It is by attention
    to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

Chapter 2:

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

 6. There is no instance of a country having benefited
    from prolonged warfare.

 7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted
    with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand
    the profitable way of carrying it on.

Chapter 5:

6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible
    as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams;
    like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew;
    like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

 7. There are not more than five musical notes,
    yet the combinations of these five give rise to more
    melodies than can ever be heard.

 8. There are not more than five primary colors
    (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination
    they produce more hues than can ever been seen.

 9. There are not more than five cardinal tastes
    (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations
    of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted.

10. In battle, there are not more than two methods
    of attack--the direct and the indirect; yet these two
    in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.

Chapter 6:

13. By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining
    invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated,
    while the enemy's must be divided.

14. We can form a single united body, while the
    enemy must split up into fractions.  Hence there will
    be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole,
    which means that we shall be many to the enemy's few.

15. In war, practice dissimulation, and you will succeed.

16. Whether to concentrate or to divide your troops,
    must be decided by circumstances.

17. Let your rapidity be that of the wind,
    your compactness that of the forest.

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

19. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night,
    and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.

33. It is a military axiom not to advance uphill
    against the enemy, nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.

34. Do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight;
    do not attack soldiers whose temper is keen.

35. Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. 
    Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.

36. When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. 
    Do not press a desperate foe too hard.

37. Such is the art of warfare.

Chapter 13:

15. Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain
    intuitive sagacity.

16. They cannot be properly managed without benevolence
    and straightforwardness.

17. Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make
    certain of the truth of their reports.

18. Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every
    kind of business.

22. It is through the information brought by the
    converted spy that we are able to acquire and employ
    local and inward spies.

23. It is owing to his information, again, that we can
    cause the doomed spy to carry false tidings to the enemy.

if you are still reading thislet me know :D