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20 soldiers; they see the result but they cannot appreciate the means.

If we gain a victory by a certain stratagem, we do not repeat it. Vary the stratagem according to circumstances.

An army is comparable to water.

Water avoids high places, and takes the easiest downward path. So an army chooses weak points in preference to strong.

The course of water is regulated by the shape of the ground; that of the army by the condition of the enemy.

Water has no settled shape; an army is no mechanical engine of destruction.

He who, varying his plans according to the enemy, gains the victory, is called a god.

Among the five elements there is no settled precedence; the four seasons have no fixed rank; the days are long and short; and the moon waxes and wanes. So in war there is no fixity.