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In peace, prepare for war. In war, prepare for peace.

— Sun Tzu Misattributed

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Source, in full

Sometimes erroneously prepended to the opening line "The art of war is of vital importance to the State", but appears to be a variation of the Roman motto "Si vis pacem, para bellum". It is not clear who first misattributed this phrase to Sun Tzu. The earliest appearance of the phrase in Google Books is 1920, when it appeared in a pharmaceutical journal, but no attribution was given then.

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War

More quotes by Sun Tzu

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

Secret operations are essential in war; upon them the army relies to make its every move.

Management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Sun Tzu (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.