Why people recommend it
The Art of War by Sun Tzu is an ancient military treatise attributed to the strategist Sun Tzu that outlines tactical principles, conflict avoidance, and strategic thinking. The text remains widely read and applied far beyond ancient battlefield strategy into business, sports, and personal philosophy. On an episode of The Jordan Harbinger Show, guest Tu Lam discussed his lifelong study of its principles, noting that he even wrote his high school thesis on the text. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas referenced the treatise to analyze market competition, quoting its advice on turning an opponent's weaknesses into strengths when evaluating corporate rivals like Google. Las Culturistas co-hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang humorously noted the book's widespread influence across modern culture, remarking on how deeply its strategic ethos has resonated with everyone from corporate executives to reality television stars. Additionally, on Behind the Bastards, the hosts contextualized historical military commanders by linking their tactics to the foundational ideals presented by Sun Tzu centuries earlier. Across numerous platforms, guests and hosts cite the classic text to illustrate timeless lessons on preparation, patience, and outsmarting adversaries through calculated maneuvering.
Who recommended it
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 31
Discussed
“Whether Lawrence was aware of this or not, others had presented a similar ideal some 2,200 years earlier, Sun Tzu. The most famous—yeah, exactly.”
Discussed
“A lot of studying those principles during high school; in fact, my high school thesis was on 'The Art of War.'”
Discussed
“Number 213, Sun Tzu wrote 'The Art of War.' Yes, which has inspired many, many, many people, reality stars even. By any means necessary, by any means necessary.”
Discussed
“Maybe you're watching Timcast IRL; we try to do our best, so a lot of people don't understand economics 101, and it literally is economics 101.”
Discussed
“the war of art not to be confused with the Art of War”
Speaker The Joe Rogan Experience Joe Rogan Experience #1876 - Greg Fitzsimmons 2024-06-27 Listen at 37:41
Discussed
“well the great thing is that Sun Tzu uh I don't know but Sam Tripoli is the one who says you just gotta wait at the mouth of the river and let all the bodies Flow by yeah live long enough to see the the bodies of your enemy drift by you in the river or something like that something”
Speaker The Joe Rogan Experience Joe Rogan Experience #2017 - Bryan Callen 2024-06-27 Listen at 1:18:41
Discussed
“The pivotal point to recognize is that there’s this quote from 'The Art of War': 'Make the weakness of your enemy a strength.' The core weakness of Google is that any ad unit less profitable than a link or one that discourages link clicks isn’t in their interests to pursue aggressively; they prefer to focus on something higher-margin.”
Discussed
“Okay, so there was a book called The Art of War, right? Yeah, and so I do have a few chapters that I'll write someday, right?”
Discussed
“Even Sun Tzu stated that attacking a besieged city is unwise, and there is a vast history of warfare, showcasing the complexities of urban combat.”
Discussed
“So, yep, Matt, he wrote these books, The Religion War being the one that we're gonna talk about today, and they're terrible.”
Discussed
“Apart from Machiavelli, we've also referenced Sun Tzu, the renowned author of 'The Art of War' from China, who discussed the importance of building alliances.”
Discussed
“I was just looking at my copy of Art of War last night thinking about Donald Trump like he's all about business dealings lying and then doing what you don't expect and all that stuff”
Discussed
“Now, let me leave you with some words from Sun Tzu in the Art of War: 'The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy so that he cannot fathom our real intent.' Thank you for listening, and hope to see you next time.”
Discussed
“After studying this book and unrestricted warfare, the original Chinese manuscript is kind of, even though it's recent, it's only a couple decades old. It's kind of up there with Sun Tzu's Art of War in terms of teaching people how to wage war in the modern era.”
Discussed
“well that's the Art of War Right Never on your up your enemies when they're destroying each other”
Discussed
“And now let me leave you some words from Sun Tzu in 'The Art of War.' 'Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.'”
Discussed
“I didn't know machiavelli did an art of war I saw you have art of war on your desk downstairs”
Discussed
“...things like the book of five rings or the art of war or you know like von klosterwicz even anything like that”
Discussed
“and now let me leave you with some words from sun tzu in the art of war the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting thank you for listening and hope to see you next time”
Discussed
“it's the art of war you know like anytime you can create some chaos in the other person's mind you do it damn yeah”
Discussed
“so he starts reading all those books the art of war and all this [ __ ]”
Discussed
“akapot says with china it's all sun tzu the art of war know your enemy the ccp knows this well”
Discussed
“what about art of war oh yeah tribal warfare what about it i mean there's a lot of stuff about violence and war it comes from what's the best way to win the war according to sun tzu the best you went before you started win the war before going to war”
Discussed
“I said look you know about 2 000 years ago there was this chinese general who wrote a book called the article and one of the things some somebody wrote a business book late years later called the art of the deal which is yeah and and but in in the art of war sun tzu says when you're an”
Discussed
“when i haven't read the full you know art of war from sun tzu but i tell you this man it is better look here's what i used to tell the occupy wall street people the ninjas would target somebody and take them out”
Discussed
“i'm just saying uh art of war okay Sons uh art of the deal yeah you know who who probably wrote the start of the war trump”
Discussed
“what did sun tzu say about underestimating your opponent I don't remember the exact quote but uh you don't you don't you don't do it you win the war before you start it There's a bunch of really brilliant quotes from sun tzu obviously the art of war”
Discussed
“but it's always um the art of war um fourth pass final”
Discussed
“man i bought tony robbins [ __ ] i bought all kind i bought book of five rings about [ __ ] art of war i bought everything”
Discussed
“I'm gonna close with the art of the fuck-buddy Okay there's the art of war is the war of art and there's the art of the fuck-buddy”
Discussed
“You talk about like psychological warfare you know the art of war and everything like that and he's doing it on a mass scale like we've probably never experienced before”