Some believe it was Sun-Tzu, a Chinese general and military strategist (c. 500 BC). However his quotation was different. He said, "Know your enemy and know yourself and you will always be victorious." And while "Michael Corleone" did say that in the movie The Godfather Part II, the actual origin of the quote was from Machiavelli in "The Prince" which is the definitive primer on how to be a dictator.
The first part of the quotation means that you always want to keep your friends close to you because they are people you can trust and rely on.
The second part of this means that your enemies are always going to be out there seeking to harm you so you want to keep an extremely close eye on them, in order to make sure that they are not going to hurt you.
Overall, it means that you should always know what your enemies are doing. As a war tactic, know what the enemy is doing so you don't get ambushed.
"The GodFather"
It teaches that there is always a paradox. The saying goes "keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer" only in this case "keep your enemies close but keep your enemies closer"
The Godfather.
"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
try to be nice to your friends but be nicer to your enemies so then your enemies are your friends. eventually every 1 will be your friends!
It means that you should keep your friends close because they will help you and protect you and give you advice. But you should watch you enemies even closer than you friends so you know what they are up to. It dosent mean you have to be friends with your enemies.You should have nothing to fear from your family and friends, but to know your enemies, where they are and what they are capable of is by far better then being surprised in the dark...You don't have to be friends with the enemy to know their capablities.
Quote "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." is from Mario Puzo's famous book "The Godfather"
Chinease writer sun tzu
Machivelli says that in The Prince.
We should keep our friends close because they encourage us to always keep moving ahead whereas we should keep our enemies closer as they keep telling us about our weaknesses and faults which enable us to correct them and not repeat them again.
noAnswer:That's, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." But, I think it's the philosophical thread of the Mafia... not the Bible.
This means that you always want to keep your friends close to you because they are people you can trust and rely on. The second part of this means that your enemies are always going to be out there seeking to harm you so you want to keep an extremely close eye on them in order to make sure that they are not going to hurt you. It was none of the above. It was Jock Ewing that made this statement. JR once said ''My daddy always said, keep your friends close and your enemies even closer''.