The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi

9. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and

Chapter 122 60 words
the whole Empire says, "Well done!" [True excellence being, as Tu Mu says: "To plan secretly, to move surreptitiously, to foil the enemy’s intentions and balk his schemes, so that at last the day may be won without shedding a drop of blood." Sun Tzŭ reserves his approbation for things that "the world’s coarse thumb And finger fail to plumb."