keep your friends close and your enemies even closer

[Jim Bob]

Who said it?

[paulz]

Sun Tzu in The Art of War. By all accounts a classic

[andy hughes]

It is also a line in 'The Godfather' - advice from Don Corleone to his son, also a classic.

[tartanwiz]

I once heard a variation on it (don't know who originated it, but must have been a business shark), which goes like this: 'Keep your friends distant, keep your enemies close, and keep your worst enemies closest'.

[headlesspets]

also - 'its better to have a camel in your tent weeing out than outside weeing in' Probably keats who said that

[smudge]

Never a truer word spoken - on both sayings!

[tad]

Some people think the quote comes from interpretations of Machiavelli's work. (The first great political philosopher of the Renaissance. Florence, Italy. 1469-1527).

[bismark]

The way i see it this quote is a general proverb. It could have been said by anyone. Possibly the politicla genius of Otto von Bismark who often was friendly to enemies (Austria) or perhaps Al Capone. It was a wise man indeed though. And he knew that some people just shoulnt be trusted.

[MohammedSule]

Machiavelli