they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it
is not because they are disinclined to longevity.
[Chang Yu has the best note on this passage: "Wealth and long life are
things for which all men have a natural inclination. Hence, if they
burn or fling away valuables, and sacrifice their own lives, it is not
that they dislike them, but simply that they have no choice." Sun TzÅ
is slyly insinuating that, as soldiers are but human, it is for the
general to see that temptations to shirk fighting and grow rich are not
thrown in their way.]