2 pieces from Art of War — each retold in modern English and traced to its source.
There are roads you do not take and towns you do not besiege even when you can. Sun Tzu’s chapter on adaptation is about judgment over rules — weigh gain and harm in the same breath, and never count on the enemy not coming; count on being ready when he does.
Get to the field first and rest; arrive late and scramble. Sun Tzu’s chapter on emptiness and fullness is the doctrine of initiative — strike where he is not defended, be formless as water, and shape your victory out of the enemy’s own dispositions.