You assert this several times, and I am curious why you are so convinced of this. The proverb 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' is from the Arthashastra, from the 4th century BCE https://www.worldhistory.org/Arthashastra/ although the original text is quite a bit wordier... you can find it here in Book 6: https://en.wikisource.org/wik…
You assert this several times, and I am curious why you are so convinced of this. The proverb 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' is from the Arthashastra, from the 4th century BCE https://www.worldhistory.org/Arthashastra/ although the original text is quite a bit wordier... you can find it here in Book 6: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Arthashastra/Book_VI -- what is the source of your claim that there is an even earlier proverb, stating that the enemy of my enemy is NOT my friend?
Hiya Terrible Tallypo, that's fascinating. I'm not an ancient historian (though I love ancient history and literatures!). I do teach medieval and Renaissance literature and am very interested in folk forms like proverbs, tales and jokes. I've only encountered the negative version (with proverbs you can usually find both--there was a medieval distinction between the "bonum" and "malum" significances)--maybe because it's been more popular in my lifetime of increasingly dispiriting politics! My father warned me as a young person always to remember that "the enemy of your enemy is not your friend."
You assert this several times, and I am curious why you are so convinced of this. The proverb 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' is from the Arthashastra, from the 4th century BCE https://www.worldhistory.org/Arthashastra/ although the original text is quite a bit wordier... you can find it here in Book 6: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Arthashastra/Book_VI -- what is the source of your claim that there is an even earlier proverb, stating that the enemy of my enemy is NOT my friend?
Why not two sayings instead of just one? Both have their merits. People who don't like old sayings can always make up their own. I do!
Common sense.
Hiya Terrible Tallypo, that's fascinating. I'm not an ancient historian (though I love ancient history and literatures!). I do teach medieval and Renaissance literature and am very interested in folk forms like proverbs, tales and jokes. I've only encountered the negative version (with proverbs you can usually find both--there was a medieval distinction between the "bonum" and "malum" significances)--maybe because it's been more popular in my lifetime of increasingly dispiriting politics! My father warned me as a young person always to remember that "the enemy of your enemy is not your friend."