Lesson 44: Competitive Self-Interest

Here Sun Tzu offers a simple test for the worthiness of any contest. Will we be stronger afterward if we win? Will we be in a better position? Or will the battle itself be so drawn-out, costly, and destructive that by the time we win we will be in a weaker position? If the battle is economic, we cannot spend more money during its course than we can ever win back. If we are only fighting for recognition, we certainly do not want to make ourselves look bad in the process of trying to win. The longer any contest drags on, the more likely it is to create nothing but losers.

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