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04 Tactical Dispositions - The Art of War - Lao Tzu · Logic Library

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  Chapter four, Tactical Dispositions. Sun Sou said, the good fighters of old
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  first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity
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  of defeating the enemy. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands.
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  But the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
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  Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make
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  certain of defeating the enemy. Hence the saying one may know how to conquer
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  without being able to do it. Security against defeat implies defensive tactics. Ability
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  to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient
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  strength. Attacking a superabundance of strength. The general who is skilled in defense
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  hides in the most secret recesses of the earth. He who is skilled in
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  attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. Thus, on the one
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  hand, we have the ability to protect ourselves. On the other, a
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  victory that is complete. To see victory only when it is within the kin
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  of a common herd is not the acme of excellence. Neither is it the
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  acme of excellence. If you fight and conquer and the whole empire says,
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  well done. To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength.
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  To see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight. To hear
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  the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear. But the ancients
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  called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning
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  with ease. Hence, his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit
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  for courage. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes
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  is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that
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  is already defeated. Hence, the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which
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  makes defeat impossible and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy. Thus
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  it is that in war, the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory
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  has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards
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  looks for victory. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law and strictly adheres to
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  method and discipline. Thus it is in his power to control success. In
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  respect of military method, we have firstly, measurement secondly estimation of quantity,
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  thirdly calculation, fourthly baluneing of chances. Fifthly victory. Measurement owes its existence
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  to earth, estimation of quantity to measurement, calculation to estimation of quantity,
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  balancing of chances to calculation, and victory to balancing of chances. A victorious
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  army opposed to a routed one is as a pound's weight placed in the scale
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  against a single grain. The on rush of a conquering forces, like the
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  bursting of pent up waters into a chasm, may thousand fathoms deep. End
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  of Chapter four