Art of War 1.16
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Laying Plans 計篇
計利以聽乃為之勢以佐其外
While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Capt. Calthrop blunders amazingly over this sentence: “Wherefore, with regard to the foregoing, considering that with us lies the advantage, and the generals agreeing, we create a situation which promises victory.” Mere logic should have kept him from penning such frothy balderdash.
Character glossary
- 計jìto calculate, to count; to plan, to reck
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 聽tīngto hear, to listen; to understand; to ob
- 乃nǎithen; really, indeed, after all
- 為wèito do, to act; to handle, to govern; to
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 勢shìpower, force; tendency, attitude
- 佐zuǒto assist, to aid; subordinate, second
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 外wàiout, outside, external; foreign; in addi
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Analects 14.43
- Mencius 5A.6
- Mencius 6B.4
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.