I need to tell people that, regardless of it having been said by someone enacting the role of a gangster in an Oscar-winning movie, "keeping your enemies closer than your friends" is a fucking idiotic piece of advice.
People should stop quoting that line and then stroking their chins in a sage-like manner, you look like complete dimwits.
@mcfate
If you cannot empathize with your enemy, you cannot understand him.
If the only way you can understand your enemy is to keep him close, you probably lack the ability to empathize. This is an important trait (lack of empathy) a mobster requires to operate.
I see. So, in what fashion did the US "keep Japan close" in World War 2?
How did Wellington "keep Napoleon close"?
How did the 300 Spartans "keep Xerxes close"?
Help me out here. Show me the empathy.
I'm at least a bit sociopathic, so try to keep it simple, okay?
(You don't need to "understand your enemy", you only need to understand his STRATEGY.)
Better still: you only need to "understand your enemy" to the extent that it meaningfully informs your understanding of your enemy's strategy. Anything beyond that is window dressing.
@mcfate
I think you assumed that I was disagreeing with your op.
I was trying to add a finer point to the insight.
@jurban
So, "Keep your friends close, and spy on your enemies"...?
Doesn't have nearly the same ring, does it? Are you "close" to people you spy on for having spied on them?