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When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy.

When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy.

Approximate author period: c. 544 BC · ancient

Meaning not yet available

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Sun Tzu
Attribution: attributed
Country attributed
Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.
Historical period
Approximate author period: c. 544 BC · ancient
Approximate author-period anchor from documented birth year -544; activity date not established; Wikidata Q37151, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37151 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken.
Recorded source
Contributor-provided quotation collection

Supplied reference C; CSV row 192377; supplied attribution, independently unverified

A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.