Inspirational Quotes by Thomas Merton

“De ahí el dicho: conoce al enemigo y conócete a ti mismo, y sobre tu victoria no caerán dudas; conoce el Cielo y la Tierra, y tu victoria estará asegurada del todo.”

“Above the Fray, You Have No Fear Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident.”

“What the ancients called a skilful fighter is one who not only wins but wins with ease...He wins by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes means having already established the certainty of victory; conquering an enemy who is already defeated.”

“The comparison is not very happy, however, because the regularity of the phenomena which Sun Tzu mentions is by no means paralleled in war.]”

“The factors in warfare are: First, measurement; second, quantity; third, calculation; fourth, comparison; and fifth, victory.”

“1.    Sun Tzu said: 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. 2.    Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him. [One mark of a great soldier is that he fight on his own terms or fights not at all.77 ] 3.    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. [In the first case, he will entice him with a bait; in the second, he will strike at some important point which the enemy will have to defend.] 4.    If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; [This passage may be cited as evidence against Mei Yao-Ch’en’s interpretation of I. ss. 23.] if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move. 5.    Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected. 6.    An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not. [Ts’ao Kung sums up very well: “Emerge from the void [q.d. like “a bolt from the blue”], strike at vulnerable points, shun places that are defended, attack in unexpected quarters.”] 7.    You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended. [Wang Hsi explains “undefended places” as “weak points; that is to say, where the general is lacking in capacity, or the soldiers in spirit; where the walls are not strong enough, or the precautions not strict enough; where relief comes too late, or provisions are too scanty, or the defenders are variance amongst themselves.”] You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. [I.e., where there are none of the weak points mentioned above. There is rather a nice point involved in the interpretation of this later clause. Tu”

“Without constant practice, the officers will be nervous and undecided when mustering for battle; without constant practice, the general will be wavering and irresolute when the crisis is at hand."]”

“Therefore the considerations of the intelligent always include both benefit and harm. As they consider benefit, their work can expand; as they consider harm, their troubles can be resolved.”

“[The five cardinal virtues of the Chinese are (1) humanity or benevolence; (2) uprightness of mind; (3) self-respect, self- control, or "proper feeling;" (4) wisdom; (5) sincerity or good faith.”

“The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and to utilise combined energy.”

“Thus the energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height. So much on the subject of energy.”

“22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”

“Some of us need to discover that we will not begin to live more fully until we have the courage to do and see and taste and experience much less than usual... And for a man who has let himself be drawn completely out of himself by his activity, nothing is more difficult than to sit still and rest, doing nothing at all. The very act of resting is the hardest and most courageous act he can perform.”

“Heaven and earth come together in the Unbegun, And all is foolishness, all is unknown, all is like The lights of an idiot, all is without mind! To obey is to close the beak and fall into Unbeginning.”

“For he who knows does not speak, He who speaks does not know” (12) And “The Wise Man gives instruction Without the use of speech.” (13)”

“Action and Non-Action The non-action of the wise man is not inaction. It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything. The sage is quiet because he is not moved, Not because he wills to be quiet . . . From emptiness comes the unconditioned, From this the conditioned, the individual things. So from the sage's emptiness, stillness arises; From stillness, action. From action, attainment. From their stillness comes their non-action, which is also action And is, therefore, their attainment. For stillness is joy. Joy is free from care Fruitful in long years. Joy does all things without concern: For emptiness, stillness, tranquility, tastelessness, Silence, and non-action Are the root of all things.”

“Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”

“There are only five primary colours,13 but when blended, their shades and hues are limitless.”

“Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack.” It”

“Warfare is the Way of deception.”