(noun) A contest, a struggle. Example: "the battle of life"
"If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak."
"Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up."
"Conform to the enemy's tactics until a favorable opportunity offers; then come forth and engage in a battle that shall prove decisive."
"Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."
"So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak."
"Know yourself and you will win all battles"
"Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can."
"The greatest victory is that which requires no battle."
"To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."
"In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack--the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers."
"Thus the expert in battle moves the enemy, and is not moved by him."
"Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will."