凡先處戰地而待敵者佚,後處戰地而趨戰者勞。故善戰者,致人而不致于人。能使敵人自至者,利之也;能使敵不得至者,害之也。
"Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him. By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near."
Unless noted otherwise, all quotations of classical texts and accompanying translations come from the Chinese Text Project
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