Indirect tactics efficiently applied are inexhausible as Heaven and Earth unending as the flow o

“Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhausible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.”

“The Art of War by Active 6th Century B.C. Sunzi.” Gutenberg.Org, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/132. Accessed 16 July 2021, loc. 70.

If you are able to attack a vulnerability, and thus provoke a “startle response,” you give yourself yet another opportunity to perform an indirect attack, provoking another reactive response, forcing them forever into a defensive posture. This is both a lesson and a warning. Unless you are aware of the reaction cycle, and a way to break it, anyone can fall into this trap.