Deception, subtlety, and secrecy render one invisible and inaudible, bewildering the enemy so he does not know what to defend or attack, thereby placing his fate under one’s control.
By Sun Tzu, from L'Art de la guerre
Key Arguments
- Skillful attack confuses the enemy’s defensive priorities.
- Skillful defense obscures the enemy’s offensive choices.
- Subtlety and secrecy achieve operational invisibility and inaudibility, enabling decisive control.
Source Quotes
8. Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack. 9.
9. O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy’s fate in our hands. 10.
Key Concepts
- Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
- O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy’s fate in our hands.
Context
vi. Weak Points and Strong (lines 323–404) — centrality of deception and concealment in shaping enemy choices