以患为利Turn Disadvantage into Advantage

以患为利

Turn Disadvantage into Advantage



将不利转变为有利。“以患为利”一说出自《孙子》，是中国古代军事家孙武提出的一种用兵原则。孙武主张，在战争中应全面准确地把握敌我双方的情况，不被一时的失利或患难所困扰；能够巧妙地利用不利的因素或形势，麻痹、诱惑敌人，进而将其转变为有利于己的因素或形势，以取得战争的胜利。这样一种用兵原则，也被人们应用于各种具有竞争性的社会生活领域。

This expression is a war fighting principle proposed by the ancient military thinker Sunzi in The Art of War. It means that a commander should have an accurate and full assessment of one's own and the enemy's deployment and not be distracted by temporary setbacks or difficulties. He should skillfully use unfavorable factors or situations to lull the enemy into a situation to his own advantage, and thus gain the upper hand. Such a military tactic is also used in social activities in which there is competition.

引例 Citation：

◎军争之难者，以迂为直，以患为利。故迂其途，而诱之以利，后人发，先人至，此知迂直之计者也。（《孙子·军争》）

两军争胜的困难之处在于，如何将迂回的弯路变为直路，将不利变为有利。因此，要迂回行进的路径，而用有利于敌的因素诱惑对方，在敌人之后出发，却先于敌人到达，这就是懂得以迂为直这一计谋了。

When two armies face each other, the biggest challenge is turning a twisting road into a straight one, or turning disadvantage into advantage. So a commander should lure and distract the enemy with tactics to his advantage, move after the enemy but take a shortcut route and reach the battleground first. This is how to turn a twisting road into a straight one. (The Art of War