Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer? Why Would I Keep My Enemies Close?

[Minimalist]

"Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."

[Fireball]

Keeping them at hand so you can monitor their actions is a political move. IRL I ignore people who want to be my enemy. However, in a fight, unless someone gets in a lucky punch, the closer they are to you the less overall damage they can do. No distance to wind up a strike. You can also engineer a fall so that you land on top if you're close in.

[AFTT47]

Where is the sense in that?

Others have already answered this but I'll put it in my own words:

It's desirable to keep your enemies close because it's easier to see what they're up to that way. If you keep them fortressed away, you won't have any idea what they're scheming.

At least that's the way it works in dramatic fiction. I don't know how it works in real life because unfortunately, I'm not important enough to be concerned about enemies plotting nefarious schemes behind my back. Nobody pays that close attention to me.

Of course, that's just the way I want it! Bwahahahaha!

[Rhondazvous]

Ease-of-stabbing.

(it's a comment on keeping close tabs on people who mean you harm; you can turn your back on a friend..you can't turn your back on an enemy.)

---

Sidebar, I wish I had identifiable enemies in life.  The clarity of purpose and action would be amazing.

When somebody says they hate atheism, that's a pretty clear identifier. Unless you let them psych you into believing they hate atheiSM but love the atheiST.

---

"I have two fine daughters and a flagon of mead, why don;t you come on over to my place Bill!"

-later that night,  a murder.

Notice he didn't say whose murder. But nobody chose the 4th option in the poll, so...Hmmm?

[KittyAnn]

hmm... an enemy is an enemy and better to know what he is plotting
so it's better to keep an eye on him, or as close as possible to be able to defend the himself ...a friend is a friend even if  it was thousands of kilometers away from us, he will always stand in our defense...so it's better to have an enemies closer ...
but why have enemies at all?

[LastPoet]

Ease-of-stabbing.

(it's a comment on keeping close tabs on people who mean you harm; you can turn your back on a friend..you can't turn your back on an enemy.)

---

Sidebar, I wish I had identifiable enemies in life.  The clarity of purpose and action would be amazing.

When somebody says they hate atheism, that's a pretty clear identifier. Unless you let them psych you into believing they hate atheiSM but love the atheiST.

---

"I have two fine daughters and a flagon of mead, why don;t you come on over to my place Bill!"

-later that night,  a murder.

Notice he didn't say whose murder. But nobody chose the 4th option in the poll, so...Hmmm?

None of my enemies ever got murdered, they simply disappeared. and I swear to god I had nothing to do with it.

[downbeatplumb]

I don't have any enemies.

I've had them all killed.

[Longhorn]

I don’t think I have actual enemies. But if we’re talking people who don’t like me, I steer clear of em. I am terrified of confrontation

[DodosAreDead]

but why have enemies at all?

Because the human race is full of dickheads.

(I'm new so I'm not sure exactly what kind of language is permitted here, I did see a few people using the f word though, so I'm assuming it's ok. If not, please don't ban me lolol just PM and I'll remove it.) 

[Fireball]

but why have enemies at all?

Because the human race is full of dickheads.

(I'm new so I'm not sure exactly what kind of language is permitted here, I did see a few people using the f word though, so I'm assuming it's ok. If not, please don't ban me lolol just PM and I'll remove it.) 

Yup, about half of them.

Don't worry about your language, except for spelling and grammar. We have people who will "help" you with that, if you make a mistake.