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What Your School Don't Teach You: Top 6 Benefits of Applying The 36 Stratagems

Many gurus teach you to know something, for they say knowledge is power.  But in The 36 Stratagems, what we want is never knowledge but wisdom.  

What is wisdom?  Do you know how to clean a car windscreen?  Wisdom is doing it. 

Many people think they know more than they think and think more than they know. But it is only when you actually apply knowledge will you know whether you actually know it or just 'aware' of it. This is the 36 Stratagems, divided into 6 catogories, translated into English:

The 36 Stratagems 三十六计
Stratagems When You’re in Superior Positions
1.     Openly Deceive Under Camouflage                  瞒天过海
2.     Attack Another to Save Your Target                 围魏救赵
3.     Kill with a Borrowed Knife                                 借刀杀人
4.     Wait at Ease for the Exhausted Enemy             以逸待劳
5.     Loot a House on Fire                                          趁火打劫
6.     Sound East to Attack West                                声东击西
Stratagems for Confrontation
7.     Create Something Out of Nothing                     无中生有
8.     Advance Through a Secret Path                       暗渡陈仓
9.     Watch the Fire from Across                               隔岸观火
10.  Hide a Dagger in Your Smile                              笑里藏刀
11.  Sacrifice Small for Big Gains                             李代桃僵
12.  Exploit Small things along the Way                  顺手牵羊
Stratagems for Attack
13.  Hit the Grass to Startle the Snake                     打草惊蛇
14.  Inject Life into the Dead                                     借尸还魂
15.  Lure the Big Guy out of his Comfort Zone       调虎离山
16.  Let Go to Recapture Later                                  欲擒故纵
17.  Throw out Small to Attract Big                          抛砖引玉
18.  Nab the Root of the Issue                                   擒贼擒首
Stratagems for Confused Situations
19.  Remove Key Support                                          釜底抽薪
20.  Fish in Troubled Waters                                     混水摸鱼
21.  Remove Your Cover to Reveal the Inside         金蝉脱壳
22.  Closed Door Attacks                                           关门捉贼
23.  Befriend the Far to Attack the Near                   远交近攻
24.  Seek Help from Ally and Attack Ally Too         假道伐虢
Stratagems for Gaining Ground
25.  Replace Strong Support with Weak Support   偷梁换柱
26.  Criticize Indirectly                                               指桑骂槐
27.  Play Dumb                                                           假痴不癫
28.  Remove Ladder after Ascent                             上屋抽梯
29.  Decorate Tree with Artificial Flowers                树上开花
30.  Take Charge and Lead                                       反客为主
Stratagems in Desperate Situations
31.  Beauty Trap                                                         美人计
32.  Put on a Bold Front                                             空城计
33.  Double Agent Ploy                                              反间计
34.  Self Injury                                                             苦肉计
35.  A Series of Inter-Connected Stratagems          连环计

36.  If All Else Fail, Escape is the Best                     走为上

Top 6 benefits of applying The 36 Stratagems:
  1. You'll get your problem solved
  2. You'll realize that all your problems, no matter how significant they are, found their solutions in one or more of the stratagems
  3. While solving the problem using the 36 stratagems, you'll realize that you know more than what you think and you think more than you know.  Either way, you'll get inspired to do more
  4. The 36 stratagems force you to think out of the box, to think in a provocative manner, and to think differently.  This is what schools don't normally teach
  5. When you help your friends using the 36 stratagems, you will get another new level of understanding
  6. The 36 stratagems promote peace because it teaches us to solve a problem instead of dealing with people to solve the problem. 

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