---It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy’s one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice numerous, to divide our army into two. If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.
------ Sun Tzu, The Art of War, ch.III, 8, trans. by Lionel Giles
---Sometimes it is good to fight. Sometimes it is good not to fight. And it is always difficult to tell when to fight and when not to fight. So some people fight more often than they should, and some people fight less often they should. Few fight just as often as they should.
---I take a defeatist attitude too often, for example. I think I have considered this a sort of humbleness, but it may be just that I am too cautious.
---Sun Tzu 孫子sounds sensible, but when I think of applying his idea to my life, I see that life is more complicated than war. War is complicated enough, but it is about defeating your enemy. Life is not always about defeating your enemy. Still, it’s true that life can be compared to war, and living to fighting. And figuratively we do have friends and enemies during our lifetime. The difference is that friends and enemies are not as distinct in life as in war.
---That said, Sun Tzu’s precepts seem applicable to life in general. As in war we very often overreact in life. We think about so many things that we forget to concentrate on the most important thing: when to fight, and when to flee. (2014.4.13)