Five essentials for victory: know when to fight, handle disparate force ratios, maintain unity of spirit, be prepared to strike the unprepared, and ensure competent command free from sovereign interference.

By Sun Tzu, from L'Art de la guerre

Key Arguments

  • He enumerates five winning conditions covering timing, force management, morale cohesion, preparedness and surprise, and commander capability with autonomy.

Source Quotes

17. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. (2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. (2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. (3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. (3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. (4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. (4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. (5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. (5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign. 18.

Key Concepts

  • Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
  • (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
  • (2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
  • (3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
  • (4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
  • (5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.

Context

iii. Attack by Stratagem (lines 177–227)