what is the meaning of this phrase?
keep your friends close, but keep your enermies closer??
thank you!!!
2006-09-27 22:09:39 · 15 answers · asked by sarah s 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
It involves knowing what you enemies are up to all the time. You can afford to let your friends out of your sight but if you ignore your enemies they will be able to do bad things to you.
2006-09-27 22:11:48 · answer #1 · answered by nevyn55025 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think the person who orginally said "keep your friends close but your enemies closer" was Mobutu, a ruler of Zaire\the Congo who manipulated several politicians into giving him money and allowing him to stay in power. So, I was interpret the phrase as implying one to keep closer attention to your enemy than you would your friends to protect yourself and gain influence over them. Simply put, "always stay a step ahead". I hope this helps.
2006-09-28 05:15:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The person who orginally said "keep your friends close but your enimies closer" was Mobutu, a ruler of Zaire\the Congo who manipulated several politicians by bribing them in order to stay in power. Others claim it was written in the famous book "Art of War" by Sun Tzu. It means that you need to keep your friends/allies close to you in terms of relations etc., but you should also monitor closely the movements of your enemies to know what they are up to anytime. In the book "Art of War", Sun Tzu claims that you should also try to keep some kind of communication channel -formal or informal- with your enemies, to better track their movements. He is also in favor of the use of spies.
2006-09-28 05:16:16 · answer #3 · answered by mortisia2121 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
to keep an eye at ur enemies coz they would do anything bad for u ... but i think it is like this "keep your enemies close but keep your friends closer," coz u r expecting anything bad from ur enemies but u don't know wt do ur friends u trust can do things that u have never expect and u wont feel by coz he is the one who knows u and the one u love
2006-09-28 05:21:47 · answer #4 · answered by don'task 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe it means that you should keep a close eye on your enemies ?
2006-09-28 05:11:15 · answer #5 · answered by Vage Centurian 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
to keep a regular watch on ur eniemeis u got to keep 'em closer
2006-09-28 05:13:43 · answer #6 · answered by Cherry 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
keep your enemies closer so you can keep an eye on them.
2006-09-28 05:12:37 · answer #7 · answered by mdubrey44 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means you need to keep your enemies where you can see what they're doing and attack them if necessary.
2006-09-28 05:11:46 · answer #8 · answered by Kuji 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it means keep a close eye on your enimies so u knw wen theyre going to strike
2006-09-28 05:12:21 · answer #9 · answered by raeanne2710 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you keep your enemys close you know what they are planning, in order to do this they can not know you are the enemy
2006-09-28 05:13:06 · answer #10 · answered by icheeknows 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋