Fire confers advantage through intelligent use; water confers strength for interception but cannot strip the enemy of all belongings.
By Sun Tzu, from L'Art de la guerre
Key Arguments
- He contrasts fire and water as aids to attack, assigning distinct strategic utilities: fire for intelligent exploitation, water for adding strength.
- He limits water’s effect to interception, implying constraints on attrition of enemy materiel compared to fire.
Source Quotes
13. Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those who use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength. 14.
14. By means of water, an enemy may be intercepted, but not robbed of all his belongings. 15.
Key Concepts
- Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those who use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength.
- By means of water, an enemy may be intercepted, but not robbed of all his belongings.
Context
xii. The Attack by Fire — comparative effects of environmental weapons