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• "Funny Aneurysm" Moment: The book was originally written for Helu, the ruler of the Kingdom of Wu. About fifty or so years after Sun Tzu's death, Wu was completely destroyed and absorbed by the Kingdom of Yue.
• Magnificent Bastard: This is a goal to which all generals should aspire. As the book notes:
  "To win a hundred battles is not of the supreme excellence. To subdue one's enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."
• Values Dissonance: Today, some of the tactics he advocates would be considered war crimes at worst and state-funded terrorism at best. See also Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty. Examples include pretending to set up truce talks to lure enemies into a trap and attacking the enemy without declaring war.
  • But then again, the whole point of the book is to be a Combat Pragmatist and more importantly, a successful strategist. Morals have nothing to do with it. Drop what is unefficient : keep what is efficient.