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Card #c473IR // #c473Synthesis

Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

— In our words · Source: The Art of War (Sun Tzu)

[Use when]

Someone wants the decisive confrontation now, before the groundwork exists.

[Why it matters]

The coldest sentence in the book. The battle is not where victory is created; it is where a victory arranged beforehand is collected. The good fighter "first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy," and the opportunity is provided by the enemy himself. Your half of the work is entirely negative: become undefeatable. The positive half, the enemy's mistake, cannot be manufactured, only awaited. That is why the book despises the spectacular win: "To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence." If everyone can see why you won, you won late.

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