Build security on readiness and unassailable positions, not on hoping the enemy will not come or attack.

By Sun Tzu, from L'Art de la guerre

Key Arguments

  • Reliance on chance cedes control; readiness restores agency.
  • Constructing an “unassailable” position deters or defeats attacks regardless of enemy intent.

Source Quotes

11. The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable. 12.

Key Concepts

  • The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.

Context

viii. Variation in Tactics (lines 491–528) — doctrine of preparedness and positional security