Source identified1
Read & copy
“The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.”
Meaning & context
Strong strategy begins by reducing one’s own avoidable vulnerabilities before depending on an opportunity created by the opponent.
Source details
The Art of War, Chapter IV 'Tactical Dispositions,' section 1, Lionel Giles translation (1910), original scan leaf 82. The sentence about good fighters first making themselves secure against defeat opens the chapter's tactical argument; it remains ancient military-strategy reasoning rather than a universal self-help rule.
