Fourteen quotes attributed to Sun Tzu, checked one by one · 考证
Many lines shared as his are not his. Below are all the lines the web attributes to Sun Tzu, each with its verdict, the Chinese passage, and a link to the step-by-step check against the original.
14 quotes attributed to Sun Tzu 5 verified 3 paraphrases 6 not his
The checker: search a line and read the verdict The free PDF
Order: first the lines with measured search demand in the last 28 days (for example in the midst of chaos and keep friends close, both fake), then those featured in the checker, then the rest.
No. It is not in The Art of War, and the line is best known from The Godfather Part II (1974).
Source The Godfather Part II (1974), spoken by Michael Corleone; screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola
No. It is not in The Art of War, and the Napoleon credit is only an unverified attribution.
Source Not in The Art of War. Usually credited to Napoleon; Wikiquote lists that credit only as attributed.
No. It is not in The Art of War, and the origin of the English sentence is untraced.
Source Not in The Art of War; origin untraced
No. It is not in The Art of War or the Analects, and no Chinese source line has been identified.
Source Origin unknown. Not in The Art of War or the Analects; no Chinese source line has been identified.
兵者，诡道也。 bīng zhě, guǐ dào yě.
Yes. It is Lionel Giles's 1910 translation of The Art of War, chapter I, section 18.
Source The Art of War · I. Laying Plans · §18 · tr. Lionel Giles, 1910
知彼知己，百战不殆 zhī bǐ zhī jǐ, bǎi zhàn bù dài
Not quite. The text promises no danger across a hundred battles, not a hundred victories.
Source The Art of War · III. Attack by Stratagem · §18 · tr. Lionel Giles, 1910
不战而屈人之兵，善之善者也。 bù zhàn ér qū rén zhī bīng, shàn zhī shàn zhě yě.
Yes. It is an accurate modern translation of The Art of War, III.2. Giles’s 1910 wording is different.
Source The Art of War · III. Attack by Stratagem · §2 · tr. Lionel Giles, 1910
故能而示之不能，用而示之不用，近而示之远，远而示之近。 gù néng ér shì zhī bù néng, yòng ér shì zhī bù yòng, jìn ér shì zhī yuǎn, yuǎn ér shì zhī jìn.
Not quite. Sun Tzu says to feign incapacity, inactivity and distance, not the pair weak and strong.
Source The Art of War · I. Laying Plans · §19 · tr. Lionel Giles, 1910
No. It is not in the Chinese text or in any printed translation, and the line is modern.
Source Not in the Chinese text or any printed translation; earliest appearances are modern (early 2000s)
其疾如风，其徐如林，侵掠如火，不动如山。 qí jí rú fēng, qí xú rú lín, qīn lüè rú huǒ, bù dòng rú shān.
Yes. The four images are Sun Tzu's, and Takeda Shingen's banner only shortened them.
Source The Art of War · VII. Manoeuvring · §§17–18 · tr. Lionel Giles, 1910
难知如阴，动如雷震。 nán zhī rú yīn, dòng rú léi zhèn.
Yes. The sentence is Lionel Giles's 1910 wording for The Art of War, VII.19, in his numbering.
Source The Art of War · VII. Manoeuvring · §19 · tr. Lionel Giles, 1910
胜兵先胜而后求战，败兵先战而后求胜。 shèng bīng xiān shèng ér hòu qiú zhàn, bài bīng xiān zhàn ér hòu qiú shèng.
Yes. It is a sound modern translation of The Art of War, IV.15, and it is not Giles's 1910 sentence.
Source The Art of War · IV. Tactical Dispositions · §15 · tr. Lionel Giles, 1910
令素行以教其民，则民服；令不素行以教其民，则民不服。令素行者，与众相得也。 lìng sù xíng yǐ jiào qí mín, zé mín fú; lìng bù sù xíng yǐ jiào qí mín, zé mín bù fú. lìng sù xíng zhě, yǔ zhòng xiāng dé yě.
Not quite. The nearest lines are about enforcing orders, not about example instead of force.
Source The Art of War · IX. The Army on the March · §§44–46 · tr. Lionel Giles, 1910
檀公三十六策，走是上计。 tán gōng sān shí liù cè, zǒu shì shàng jì.
No. Sun Tzu does not say it; the line is about Lord Tan, in the Book of Southern Qi, chapter 26.
Source Book of Southern Qi 南齐书 · ch. 26 · biography of Wang Jingze 王敬则
Method · 考据
Four steps, always the same, for every line we publish. No line on this page exists without an ID in the canon.
We start from the Chinese, not the translation. If a line has no original passage in the canon, it does not enter this list.
We compare the circulating line with the Chinese passage and with Lionel Giles translation, The Art of War (1910), Project Gutenberg 132.
Verified: the line is in the book. Paraphrase: the idea is there, the words differ. Fake: the book does not hold it, and we say where it comes from.
Each line has its canon ID (for example know-your-enemy-hundred-battles) and its page with the Chinese passage, translation, and references.
Of these fourteen lines, five are Sun Tzu word for word, three are paraphrases of a passage that exists, and six are not his. The six fakes come from a 1974 film, an unverified Napoleon attribution, a modern line, a saying with no Chinese source, and another Chinese book, the Book of Southern Qi. Each line above links to its page with the passage and the source.
All warfare is based on deception (The Art of War, I.18): five characters, 兵者，诡道也. It is the best known line in the book. In the search data we measure, though, the line with the most impressions is a different one, and it is fake: In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity. Fame and demand do not point to the same sentence, so check the Chinese before quoting.
Six: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer (The Godfather Part II, 1974, by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola); Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake (credited to Napoleon, unverified); In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity (origin untraced); If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by (no Chinese source found); Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory (modern line, early 2000s); Of the thirty-six stratagems, running away is best (Book of Southern Qi, chapter 26: 檀公三十六策，走是上计).
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