善败者不亡

Those Adept at Coping with Defeat Cannot Be Destroyed

善于应对败局者不会灭亡。用兵打仗，任何一方都不可能保证只胜不败。高超的统帅，不仅要善于把握优势和胜局，还要善于应对劣势和败局。当败局无可挽回时，要尽可能地发挥主观能动性，力争将己方的损失降到最低，避免一败涂地，引发总体性、根本性的动摇、崩溃和覆灭。这一术语体现了在被动中寻求主动的辩证法，在现代社会具有更为广泛的应用。

Those who are adept at coping with defeat cannot be destroyed. No party in a war can always be sure of victory and never be defeated. An outstanding commander must not only be skilled at using his advantages when in a position of strength, he must also be adept at coping with disadvantages when in a position of weakness. When defeat is inevitable, he must take the initiative as much as possible and reduce losses to the minimum, thereby avoiding a catastrophic defeat which could lead to an overall breakdown, collapse and destruction. This expression exemplifies the dialectic of seeking to take the initiative when at a disadvantage; it is even more broadly applicable in contemporary society.

引例 Citations：

◎善师者不陈（zhèn），善陈者不战，善战者不败，善败者不亡。（《汉书·刑法志》）

善于用兵的人不轻易布阵，善于布阵的人不轻易攻击，善于攻击的人不容易失败，善于应对败局的人不容易灭亡。

Someone skilled in warfare will not readily deploy; someone skilled in deployment will not readily attack; someone skilled in attacking cannot be readily defeated; someone skilled in coping with defeat cannot be readily destroyed. (The History of the Han Dynasty)

◎故师覆于外而本根不摇者，善败也。（《宋史·尹洙（zhū）传》）

所以军队虽然在外面打了败仗而国家的根本仍未动摇，这就是善于应对败局。

Thus if a country's army is defeated away from home and yet it remains unshaken, it is adept at coping with defeat. (The History of the Song Dynasty)

推荐：教育部 国家语委

供稿：北京外国语大学 外语教学与研究出版社

责任编辑：钱耐安