“All warfare is based on deception”;

“Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when we are active, we must seem idle; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when we are far away, we must make him believe we are near”;

“A commander’s skill is judged by the diligence of his subordinates. To win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the summit of military art. To bring the enemy down without a battle — that is the summit”.

**“When envoys are sent with courteous words on their lips, it means the enemy wishes to conclude a truce.

Du Mu adds: ‘If the enemy opens negotiations and offers hostages, it means that he is eager for a cessation of hostilities, because his strength is exhausted or for some other reason’“.**

(From the military treatise The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu was a Chinese strategist, commander and thinker who lived in the 5th century BC; his fundamental work The Art of War is considered the most famous ancient Chinese treatise on military strategy and politics.)