The Art of War by Sun Tzu

BATB score: 5/10 💥

written in 500 BC, a blueprint / playbook to war, oh my my this book is literally a part of history!

Best to: Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is written in bullet points, short quotable phrases, short words of wisdom, and immediately moving onto the next short quotable phrase - kinda like reading a meme lol

Best as: “Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley.” OKAY NEXT! “Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain.” OKAY NEXT! “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”

BATB lingering thought: this book totally make sense if you are at war eg. beware of poison rice, attack at night when they are weak, make use of espionage, set fire in the direction of the wind, destroy their alliances, like truly legit shit yo 💯

Best for: legitimately 2500 years later, you need to decipher a lot, filter a bit, modernize, and multiverse analyze the concepts, then only squeeze out what is still applicable today like leadership trust and one team one dream aha aha

Best quotes: “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

“There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.”

“Even the finest sword plunged into salt water will eventually rust.”

"He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks."