Sun Tzu is credited with the phrase “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.” Online, while our friends remain close, our enemies continue to get closer.

What does the saying Keep your friends close but enemies closer mean?

Proverb. keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. One should be on one's toes and alert of one's surroundings if malicious people are around, to ensure that they cannot wreak havoc in one's life.

Who said Keep your friends close and your enemies closer in The Godfather?

It comes most directly from a line spoken by Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974), written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola: My father taught me many things here. He taught me in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close but your enemies closer.