整理/秦珍子 制圖/董怡璇

善戰者，立于不敗之地

　　這條術語的意思是，善于打仗的人，首先要保證自己不被敵人戰勝。這是中國古代著名軍事家孫武提出的命題。戰爭的根本目的是保全自己、消滅敵人——只有盡可能消滅敵人，才能更好地保全自己；另一方面，只有有效地保全自己，才能為消滅敵人提供基本前提。高明的指揮者，必須周密籌劃，攻防兼備，處理好消滅敵人與保全自己的辯證關系——首先要確保不給敵人以可乘之機，使敵人不能實現其戰爭目的，而使自己具備消滅敵人的基本前提。

Those Who Excel at War Must First Protect Themselves from Defeat

　　This is the counsel of Sun Wu, a renowned ancient military thinker. The goal of war is first and foremost to protect oneself and to defeat the enemy, and conversely only by defeating the enemy can one fully protect oneself. Another way of seeing this is to recognize that effective self-protection is the precondition for defeating the enemy. That is why the commander must plan carefully, prepare for both attack and defense, and not give the enemy any chance to fulfill its military objectives.

引例

　　故善戰者，立于不敗之地，而不失敵之敗也。（《孫子·軍形》）（所以善于打仗的人，首先要保證自己不被敵人戰勝，同時也不放過能夠戰勝敵人的任何機會。）

　　Those who excel at war must first protect themselves from defeat, and also take every opportunity to defeat the enemy. (The Art of War)