by Bridget Webber

Created on: May 20, 2007   Last Updated: August 04, 2008

In days gone by the translation of, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer', may have, at times, been a literal one. It was written the in days when 'enemies' really were enemies and may do you harm or even kill you if you didn't try to understand how they worked. Once you understood how they worked then you could second guess what their next move may be and so stay one step ahead of the game.

The phrase implied that it was even more important to keep informed of your enemies and know of their movements than it was to be close in this respect to your friends. This was so that you could protect yourself and your family and, if you were a leader of men then you could protect them also in this way.

Times have changed and it has become slightly more difficult to keep your enemies as close as you used to be able to in warfare. The ways in which we communicate have changed considerably so we have less excuses to just drop in on the enemy. We do not have as much opportunity to be in the same vicinity as our enemies in-order to stay close when there are so many borders and restrictions across land either.

However we can use modern technology to our advantage to gather more information about our enemies which may be kept in data bases or on the Internet. More than ever before, we have the ability to trace where they have been and see what they have been doing. Often, we can even find out what they plan to do next if they are in the public eye and so in the media.

When it comes to our personal lives and business matters it can still be very useful to know what our enemies are up to, and how they operate. Keeping them close probably doesn't mean that we have them by our sides and pretend to be friends with them when we are not. It is more likely to mean that we keep informed of their movements.

It can also be useful to know our enemies weakness, so that if we need to we can use this information to our advantage. Understanding what makes our enemies tick can mean that we stay one step ahead of them, whether this be in business or in our emotional lives and relationships.

The closeness referred to with regards to our friends speaks of a different type of closeness than that which we should have with our enemies. This kind of closeness is one based on our mutual feelings of warmth toward one another.

When we keep friends close we can feel free to reveal our own weakness and to be vulnerable. When we keep our enemies close we hide this from them so that they can never use it against us.

The complete saying may be changed so that we can understand it better into, know your enemy, and don't let them know you like your friends do.

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