A war does not end in a morning. Two sides can face each other for years and have the outcome settled in a single day.
Yet there are people who begrudge the small cost of preparing that one day. Sun Tzu does not let the contradiction pass.
相守數年，以爭一日之勝，而愛爵祿百金，不知敵之情者，不仁之至也
xiang shou shu nian, yi zheng yi ri zhi sheng, er ai jue lu bai jin, bu zhi di zhi qing zhe, bu ren zhi zhi ye
To hold against each other for years, contesting the victory of a single day, and then begrudge rank and a hundred gold so that you do not know the enemy’s condition, is inhumanity at its height. (The Art of War, The Use of Spies, translated directly)