Do you believe in this statement? and what does it mean... i dont know because in my opinion its always the enemy that you have to keep a close eye on and watch there moves in order to defend yourself when needed and sometimes the people you consider friends can turn there back against you and family also, but as the statement i believe it means the if you have friends that are true you wouldnt have to watch there every move IF you trust them.. and your enemies are more likely to hurt you so you have to keep them close and watch them at all times.. what do you think?

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I adjusted the Topic title as per your request, then realized that the original title is exactly how I first heard of the concept of knowing that your friends, (true friends) you can be separated from and not have a concern about because 'true friends' will always support you.
Enemies, on the other hand, need to be watched closely, so they should be kept closer in order to do that better.

I once had a job where the Sales Manager practiced this quite a bit. He took competing Salesmen out Golfing, etc, in order to get to know them better and to understand their thinking. Once he knew their patterns and methods, he would direct his efforts to take advantage of the information he had acquired. Small things, like the other sales guys once said he hated going on the North loop, so Dave spent the next three weeks traveling around the North territory, gaining a tremendous part of the market.

So, keeping the Enemy close is a method to watch their efforts and act/react according to what your goals are.
True friends don't need to be close to be friends. they will always be close in spirit, if nothing else.

 

 

 

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Aah the one of the most infamous quotes to ever be used. I would interpret that quote to go either way because it don't take much now a days to back stab someone first chance they get, especially when it comes to competitive careers and job promotions. Since anyone is trying to look for an edge to beat out the other guy. Heck you could say the US has been doing that for years with the Middle East, they have been during the cold war with Russia since World War II; although, they never really went to war these two countries had other wars to fight each other i.e. Korean War and Vietnam.

Although it is interesting and history has prover that the roles sometimes get reversed enemies become friends and friends become enemies, so its always wise to keep an eye on everyone just so you can't be caught off guard by anything.

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