Strategic restraint: some routes, enemies, towns, positions, and even sovereign commands must be refused.

By Sun Tzu, from L'Art de la guerre

Key Arguments

  • Avoiding certain roads and attacks prevents walking into disadvantage or traps.
  • Eschewing sieges and contests for bad positions conserves strength.
  • Refusing certain commands acknowledges that higher-level orders can be tactically unsound in specific contexts.

Source Quotes

3. There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must be not attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed. 4.

Key Concepts

  • There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must be not attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.

Context

viii. Variation in Tactics (lines 491–528) — doctrine of selective refusal based on circumstances