“In large-scale strategy, when we see that the enemy has few men, or if he has many men but his spirit is weak and disordered, we knock the hat over his eyes, crushing him utterly. If we crush lightly, he may recover.”

—  Miyamoto Musashi

Go Rin No Sho (1645), The Fire Book

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 31, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "In large-scale strategy, when we see that the enemy has few men, or if he has many men but his spirit is weak and disor…" by Miyamoto Musashi?
Miyamoto Musashi photo
Miyamoto Musashi 100
Japanese martial artist, writer, artist 1584–1645

Related quotes

Sun Tzu photo

“Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.”

Sun Tzu (-543–-495 BC) ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty

Source: The Art of War, Chapter I · Detail Assessment and Planning

Syama Prasad Mookerjee photo

“[Nehru once told Mookerjee: "We will crush you!"… He replied:] We will crush this crushing mentality.”

Syama Prasad Mookerjee (1901–1953) Indian politician

Cited by A.B. Vajpayee and quoted from Elst, Koenraad (2001). Decolonizing the Hindu mind: Ideological development of Hindu revivalism. New Delhi: Rupa. p.158

Miyamoto Musashi photo

“Everything can collapse. Houses, bodies, and enemies collapse when their rhythm becomes deranged.
In large-scale strategy, when the enemy starts to collapse you must pursue him without letting the chance go. If you fail to take advantage of your enemies' collapse, they may recover.”

Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) Japanese martial artist, writer, artist

Go Rin No Sho (1645), The Fire Book

Arthur Miller photo

“Hale: Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated. In these books the Devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises. Here are all your familiar spirits — your incubi and succubi; your witches that go by land, by air, and by sea; your wizards of the night and of the day. Have no fear now — we shall find him out if he has come among us, and I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!
Rebecca: Will it hurt the child, sir?
Hale: I cannot tell. If she is truly in the Devil's grip we may have to rip and tear to get her free.”

Arthur Miller The Crucible

The Crucible (1953)

Phillips Brooks photo

“When a man comes not merely to tolerate, but to boast of the stains that the world has flung upon him; when he wears his spots as if they were jewels; when he flaunts his unscrupulousness, and his cynicism and his disbelief and his hard-heartedness in your face as the signs and badges of his superiority; when to be innocent and unsuspicious and sensitive seems to be ridiculous and weak; when it is reputable to show that we are men of the world by exhibiting the stains that the world has left upon our reputation, our conduct, and our heart, then we understand how flagrant is the danger; then we see how hard it must be to keep ourselves unspotted from the world.”

Phillips Brooks (1835–1893) American clergyman and author

"Unspotted from the World"

Miyamoto Musashi photo

“When we are fighting with the enemy, even when it can be seen that we can win on the surface with the benefit of the Way, if his spirit is not extinguished, he may be beaten superficially yet undefeated in spirit deep inside.”

Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) Japanese martial artist, writer, artist

Go Rin No Sho (1645), The Fire Book
Context: When we are fighting with the enemy, even when it can be seen that we can win on the surface with the benefit of the Way, if his spirit is not extinguished, he may be beaten superficially yet undefeated in spirit deep inside. With this principle of "penetrating the depths" we can destroy the enemy's spirit in its depths, demoralizing him by quickly changing our spirit. This often occurs.
Penetrating the depths means penetrating with the long sword, penetrating with the body, and penetrating with the spirit. This cannot be understood in a generalization.
Once we have crushed the enemy in the depths, there is no need to remain spirited. But otherwise we must remain spirited. If the enemy remains spirited it is difficult to crush him.

Mao Zedong photo

“Every comrade must be helped to understand that has long as we rely on the people, believe firmly in the inexhaustible creative power of the masses and hence trust and identify ourselves with them, we can surmount any difficulty, and no enemy can crush us while we can crush any enemy.”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

Source: On Coalition Government (1945)

Paul Valéry photo

“If the state is strong, it crushes us. If it is weak, we perish.”

Paul Valéry (1871–1945) French poet, essayist, and philosopher

History and Politics http://books.google.com/books?id=7I82AAAAIAAJ&q="If+the+state+is+strong+it+crushes+us+If+it+is+weak+we+perish" as translated by D. Folliot and J. Mathews (1971)

Miyamoto Musashi photo

“Many things are said to be passed on. Sleepiness can be passed on, and yawning can be passed on. Time can be passed on also.
In large-scale strategy, when the enemy is agitated and shows an inclination to rush, do not mind in the least. Make a show of complete calmness, and the enemy will be taken by this and will become relaxed. When you see that this spirit has been passed on, you can bring about the enemy's defeat by attacking strongly with a Void spirit.”

Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) Japanese martial artist, writer, artist

Go Rin No Sho (1645), The Fire Book

Rousas John Rushdoony photo

“If men are not regenerated by Christ, and if they will not submit to His calling, to the cultural mandate, they will be crushed by His power.”

Rousas John Rushdoony (1916–2001) American theologian

Source: Writings, The Institutes of Biblical Law (1973), p. 730

Related topics