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All Warfare Is Deception
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Appear weak when you are strong
Read the source card →孙子兵法
36 card teachings from the Military Strategy tradition
The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military text traditionally attributed to Sunzi (孙子), transmitted in thirteen chapters on assessment, campaigning, attack, position, movement, terrain, command, fire attack, and intelligence. The collection presents selected passages with source and translation context; later readers have applied the text beyond warfare, but those uses belong to reception history.
How to read this collection: These entries are selected Art of War card titles and short renderings, not verbatim quotations. Each linked card provides its textual locator and translation context where available.
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All Warfare Is Deception
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Appear weak when you are strong
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Attack by Fire
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The most destructive weapon
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Attack Where They Are Not
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The art of emptiness and fullness
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Avoid What Is Strong
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Strike what is weak
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Be Shapeless as Water
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Adapt to the terrain
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Do Not Act from Anger
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The sovereign must not mobilize in rage
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Feed on the Enemy
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Use what is already there
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Foreknowledge Is Everything
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What you cannot learn from spirits
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Know the Enemy General
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Character determines strategy
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Know When to Break the Rules
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There are roads not to follow
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Know When to Fight
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Five essentials for engagement
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Know When to Stop
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Victory has its limits
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Know Yourself and Your Adversary
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The foundation of all strategy
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Make Yourself Invincible
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First secure against defeat
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Never Besiege a City
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The cost of direct assault
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Nine Kinds of Ground
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Each situation demands its own response
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On Death Ground, Fight
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Desperation is a strategy
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Read the Signs
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What the environment tells you
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Reward and Punishment
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When to use each
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Six Kinds of Terrain
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Know the ground you stand on
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Subdue Without Fighting
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The highest form of victory
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Swift Victory
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Protracted war benefits no one
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The Five Dangerous Faults
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What destroys a general
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The Five Fundamentals
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Measure before you move
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The Five Kinds of Spies
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Every source has its use
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The General Must Be Calm
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Inscrutable and controlled
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The Normal and the Extraordinary
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Endless combinations
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The Rush of Water
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Timing is everything
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The Sound of Silence
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When there are no signs
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Treat Soldiers as Children
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Lead with care, command with discipline
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Turn the Enemy's Spies
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The converted spy is priceless
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Unite Them with Purpose
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The moral law
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War Is a Matter of Life and Death
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The first words of the text
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Weigh the Advantages
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Consider both sides of every move
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When Words Are Not Enough
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Beyond orders and drums
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Win Without Fighting
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The supreme art of war
Read the source card →Explore more about Art of War → Knowledge Page · What is Art of War?
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