The Greatest Victory Is That Which

From Chapter 3 (Strategic Attack) of The Art of War, closely related to the principle that subduing the enemy without fighting is the supreme skill. Sun Tzu's argument is that pitched battle, even if won, is costly and uncertain; the general who has so thoroughly outmaneuvered the enemy that conflict becomes pointless has achieved the highest form of victory. This ideal — winning through positioning, intelligence, and diplomacy rather than force — was a deliberate corrective to the glorification of martial heroism in earlier Chinese military tradition.