“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”: meaning, origin and examples
What it means
The phrase Keep your friends close and your enemies closer suggests that it’s wise to maintain a close relationship with your adversaries. By doing so, you can monitor their actions, understand their motives, and anticipate their moves, which can give you a strategic advantage.
Tone Cautionary and strategic
Where it comes from
The line is famous from the film The Godfather Part II (1974). It is often credited to Machiavelli or to Sun Tzu, but neither wrote it in this form.
Examples
- In the tumultuous world of corporate mergers, she knew to keep her friends close and her enemies closer.
- He invited his critics to the conference, adhering to the principle of keeping his friends close and his enemies closer.
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