Arrogance and Stinginess of a General

A commander must not be arrogant and conceited. If he is arrogant, he will fail to be thorough in how he treats others; once he loses propriety, people’s hearts will scatter; once people’s hearts scatter, the troops will turn against him. A commander must also not be stingy. If he is stingy, rewards cannot be delivered; if rewards are not delivered, soldiers will not be willing to fight to the death; if soldiers are unwilling to fight to the death, the army will achieve no merit; if the army achieves no merit, the state will be empty; if the state is empty, the enemy will be full. Confucius said: “Even if a person had the talent and virtue of the Duke of Zhou, so long as he is both arrogant and stingy, his other strengths are not worth considering.” Modern Application:After the discussion of firmness and softness in “The Firmness of a General,” this chapter turns to two defects that appear to be merely “flaws of character” but in fact have chain-reaction destructive power: arrogance and stinginess. The destructive path of “arrogance” lies not in arrogance itself but......