“In politics, your enemies can’t hurt you, but your friends will kill you”
Entry in progress—B.P.
Wikiquote: Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (1694-11-21 – 1778-05-30), better known by his pen name Voltaire, was a French writer, deist and philosopher.
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Misattributed
Defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies.
. Garantissez-moi de mes amis, écrivait Gourville proscrit et fugitif, je saurai me défendre de mes ennemis. (“Defend me from my friends,” wrote Gourville, exile and fugitive, “I can defend myself from my enemies.”) — Gabriel Sénac de Meilhan, Considérations sur l’esprit et les moeurs (1788): “De L’Amitié.” Sénac de Meilhan was quoting Jean Hérault, sieur de Gourville (1625 - 1703).
. The remark has often been attributed to Voltaire and to Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars.
Wikipedia: Ann Richards
Dorothy Ann Willis Richards (September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was defeated for re-election in 1994 by George W. Bush. Ann Richards was the second female governor of Texas, and the 39th Democratic governor to serve.
6 February 1822, Daily National Intelligencer (Washington, DC), pg. 2:
To this modern Sydenham, the science of medicine may address an old Spanish proverb, which is the favorite of a member of Congress—“Save me from my friends, and I will guard against my enemies;”...
Google Books
A dictionary of Spanish proverbs
By John Collins (merchant.)
London: G. and W.B. Whittaker
1823
Pg. 104:
De mis amigos me libre dios que de mis contrarios me guardaré yo. — “Lord save me from my friends, from my enemies I shall guard myself.”
Google Books
Salvation
By William Cowper Conant
Volume 5
1903
Pg. 288:
If ever a leader had occasion to say, “Save me from my friends; I can handle my enemies,” it is our Leader Himself.
Penn State University Digital Library
25 June 1966, Lancaster (PA) Farming:
Theres an old saying that Uncle Sam should begin heeding pretty soon—“I can handle my enemies; it’s my friends who have me worried.”
21 August 1966, Los Angeles (CA) Times, editorial cartoon, pg. F2:
I can handle my enemies but what about my friends?
Google Books
Psychetypes:
A new way of exploring personality
By Michael Malone
New York, NY: Dutton
1977
Pg. 186:
Harding’s volcanic loyalty to men who abused his trust destroyed him publicly and distressed him personally: “I can handle my enemies; it’s my friends that keep me up walking all night.”
1 November 1992, St. Petersburg (FL) Times, “Long, bumpy campaign ride nears end” by Barbara L. Fredricksen, Pasco Times, pg. 2:
As wise politician Jimmie C. Edwards III once told me, “I can handle my enemies, but Lord protect me from my friends!”
Google News Archive
12 June 1993, Reading (PA) Eagle, “Clinton meets with Breyer (Associated Press), pg. A3, col. 5:
In Texas for a bill-signing ceremony, Babbitt was asked if environmentalists scuttled his appointment. “Well, it’s kind of interesting. You know, I can handle my enemies, But I have a hard time fending off my friends this time around,” he said.
(Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on a possible Supreme Court nomination—ed.)
July 1999, Texas Monthly:
“I can handle my enemies,” she told a colleague, “but, Lord, deliver me from my friends.”
Google Books
The Quotable Politician
By William B. Whitman
Guilford, CT: Lyons Press
2003
Pg. 12:
I’ve always said that in politics, your enemies can’t hurt you, but your friends will kill you.
ANN RICHARDS, FORMER DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR OF TEXAS (1933-)
Google News Archive
6 November 2003, Sarasota (FL) Herald-Tribune, “Democrats wave a red flag” by Clarence Page, pg. 15A, col. 1:
In politics, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards has said, your enemies can’t hurt you but your friends will kill you. So true.
Google Books
449 Stupid Things Democrats Have Said
By Ted Rueter
Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Pub.
2004
Pg. 58:
“I’ve always said that in politics, your enemies can’t hurt you. but your friends will kill you.” — Ann Richards (governor of Texas, 1991-1994)
New York (NY) Times
Quotes From Ann Richards
Published: September 14, 2006
Ann W. Richards, the silver-haired Texas activist who galvanized the 1988 Democratic National Convention with her tart keynote speech, died.
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“I’ve always said that in politics, your enemies can’t hurt you, but your friends will kill you.”
Google Books
The power of the Texas governor: Connally to Bush
By Brian McCall
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press
2009
Pg. 109:
In the same interview, Richards went on to tell Burka, “I’ve always said that in politics, your enemies can’t hurt you, but your friends will kill you.”
CBS News
October 9, 2009 4:57 PM
Unplugged: Nobel Prize a “Potential Burden” for Obama
Posted by Michelle Levi
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Schieffer said he thought of the old adage “protect me from my friends, I can handle my enemies” during the president’s Rose Garden remarks this morning.