The Art of Waiting – Sun Tzu applications

“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is “timing”
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way.”
― Fulton J. Sheen

 

戰

Wisdom is better than strength. This sounds right, but to apply the principle is a complex matter. In layman’s terms, it requires me to use knowledge and timing rather than brute strength or force. Patience is a universal partner to this wisdom that excels strength. Patience involves waiting, waiting involves self control, a mastery of my emotions and will. Sun Tzu said, “ The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.” This waiting involves observation of self, as well as your problem or enemy. The purpose of this waiting is to be, “Disciplined and calm, to await the appearance of disorder and hubbub amongst the enemy:–this is the art of retaining self-possession.”

Another fine friend of wisdom, quietness, gives us further benefits. In most conflicts, a demonstration of strength, provoked by bravado and pride, is shown by an outpouring of threats and insults. These are made in order to conceal intentions, threaten peace, and incite a reaction. In direct contrast, Sun Tzu enlightens us with his application of a principle of quietness, hence, “In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.”

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