Is it not better to keep the company of friends than enemies? On the surface, the answer seems obvious. Friendship feels safe, familiar, and comforting. When we need support, alliance, or cooperation, our first instinct is to turn to those we call friends rather than to those we once opposed. Trust appears natural among friends, while suspicion defines our relationship with enemies. Yet, when examined closely, this common belief begins to crack.
It is natural to want to employ a friend in your cause instead of working with an enemy. After all, friends share history, memories, and emotional bonds with us. However, the world is not gentle, and human emotions are rarely stable. A friend can turn into an enemy overnight, often driven by envy, resentment, or silent competition. What begins as loyalty may slowly rot into bitterness. Many people have been wounded not by strangers, but by those they once trusted most.
One major weakness of friendship is false agreement. Friends often agree with us simply to keep the peace. They do not want arguments, tension, or discomfort. Even when they know we are wrong, they may stay silent or nod along. This kind of support feels good, but it is dangerous. It creates an illusion of correctness and blinds us to our flaws. In this way, friendship can quietly weaken judgment rather than strengthen it.
Friends also tend to hide their unpleasant sides. To preserve harmony, they cover jealousy, ambition, or frustration behind smiles and laughter. They laugh harder at jokes that are not funny and praise ideas they secretly doubt. Over time, these small lies pile up. Honesty becomes rare, and deception becomes normal. When truth finally surfaces, it often arrives as betrayal.
An enemy, on the other hand, has little reason to pretend. An enemy knows they are being watched, judged, and tested. If you choose to work with them, they have much to prove. This makes their actions clearer and easier to measure. You remain alert, cautious, and observant. Nothing is taken for granted. In such relationships, trust is built slowly and consciously, not emotionally.
Robert Greene captures this idea well when he describes enemies as an “untapped gold mine.” Without enemies, we grow comfortable and lazy. An enemy keeps us sharp. Their presence forces us to think, plan, and act carefully. They challenge our weaknesses and expose our blind spots. In many cases, it is better to keep enemies as enemies, using their pressure to grow stronger, rather than rushing to turn them into friends.
This does not mean friendship is useless or that enemies should be blindly trusted. Rather, it means we must understand human nature as it is, not as we wish it to be. Sometimes, burying the hatchet with an enemy is wiser than placing blind faith in a friend. In a harsh world, clarity is safer than comfort, and awareness is more powerful than affection.
