Never outshine the master

Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies

Conceal your intentions

Always say less than necessary

So much depends on reputation : guard it with your life

Court attention at all cost

Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit

Make other people come to you : use bait if necessary

Win through your actions, never through argument

Infection : avoid the unhappy and the unlucky

Learn to keep people dependent on you

Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim

When asking for help, appeal to people's self-interest, never to their mercy or gratitude

Pose as a friend, work as a spy

Crush your enemy totally

Use absence to increase respect and honor

Keep others in suspended terror : cultivate an air of unpredictability

Do not build fortresses to protect yourself

isolation is dangerous

Know who you're dealing with

do not offend the wrong person

Do not commit to anyone

Play a sucker to catch a sucker : seem dumber than your mark

Use the surrender tactic : transform weakness into power

Concentrate your forces

Play the perfect courtier

Re-create yourself

Keep your hands clean

Play on people's need to believe to create a cultlike following

Enter action with boldness

Plan all the way to the end

Make your accomplishments seem effortless

Control the options : get others to play with the cards you deal

Play to people's fantasies

Discover each man's thumbscrew

Be royal in your own fashion : act like a king to be treated like one

Master the art of timing

Disdain things you cannot have : ignoring them is the best revenge

Create compelling spectacles

Think as you like but behave like others

Stir up waters to catch fish

Despise the free lunch

Avoid stepping into a great man's shoes

Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter

Work on the hearts and minds of others

Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect

Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once

Never appear too perfect

Do not go past the mark you aimed for; in victory, learn when to stop

Assume formlessness.