Considered to be one of the greatest books ever written on military strategy, "The Art of War" is a classic that was written in the 6th century. The author was a Chinese strategist name Sun Tzu.
One may wonder what someone from so far away and so long ago could possibly have to offer the modern world.
Surprisingly, individuals in many arenas find these principles giving them insight into their business strategy - be it business tactics, political campaigning, and so forth. The soccer coach for the Brazilian team used these principles to plan his strategy for the 2002 World Cup.
Here are just a few pearls of wisdom from Sun Tzu:
- It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.
- 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.
- If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.
"The Art of War" was translated from the Chinese by Lionel Giles in 1910
