Thirty-six plans are the best policy, and Sun Tzu's art of war is Sun Tzu's art of war. All the strategies in Sun Tzu's Art of War are aimed at defeating the enemy, but there is no hope for the best in Sun Tzu's Art of War.

The phrase "Thirty-six Strategies" was written earlier than the year of writing, and its etymology can be taken from Tan Dao Ji (? -A.D. 436), according to the Biography of King Jingze of the Southern Qi Dynasty: "Tan Gong's thirty-six plans are the best policy, and your father and son should only listen to them." It means that defeat is inevitable and only retreat is the best policy.