“Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.”

—  Sun Tzu

This has appeared as a variant of Sun Tzu's assertion to "leave a way of escape." Tu Mu, commenting on Sun Tzu, advises, "Show him there is a road to safety..." Ch. 7; it has also recently appeared on the internet attributed to Scipio Africanus, but without citation.
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Sun Tzu photo
Sun Tzu 68
ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosophe… -543–-495 BC

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