--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You know the old saying,” said Nick…" description: "\"“You know the old saying,” said Nick. “Keep your friends close and your enemies dead and buried in the basement.”\" — Mark Frost" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/203/mark-frost-3850_enemies_you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-y_1914116.png" --- # You know the old saying,” said Nick. “Keep your friends… ![“You know the old saying,” said Nick. “Keep your friends close and your enemies dead and buried in the basement.” quote by Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/203/mark-frost-3850_enemies_you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-y_1914116.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/203/mark-frost-3850_enemies_you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-y_1914116.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/203/mark-frost-3850_enemies_you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-y_1914116.png) > ““You know the old saying,” said Nick. “Keep your friends close and your enemies dead and buried in the basement.”” [Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A dark twist on a classic proverb suggests keeping enemies hidden and eliminated. **In simple terms:** Keep enemies out of sight and removed. Key Takeaway Eliminate threats decisively. Themes danger trust betrayal strategy proverb Mood tense foreboding Type cautionary philosophical When to use this quote - Political intrigue - crime families - personal conflicts - psychological thrillers Key Concepts Power dynamics moral ambiguity survival tactics Questions to Reflect On - When is it justified to eliminate a threat? - What are the moral costs? A Different Perspective Such ruthlessness can backfire. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Buried Basement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buried-basement-1732621/) [Close Enemies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/close-enemies-273131/) [Enemies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemies/) [Enemies Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemies-dead-1732622/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Old saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-saying/) [Said Nick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-nick-459102/) ## Related quotes > [Keep your friends close and your enemies dead and buried in the basement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/keep-your-friends-close-and-your-enemies-dead-and-buried-in-the/) [Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/) > [“Dude, you're scaring the crap out of me,' said Nick. 'I'm serious, I literally have no crap right now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/dude-you-re-scaring-the-crap-out-of-me-said-nick-i-m-serious-i/) [Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/) > [“There was nobody who could help her. Nobody in the world. They were all on something, mad, possible enemies, dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/there-was-nobody-who-could-help-her-nobody-in-the-world-they-were-all/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [The only thing that will be remembered about my enemies after they're dead is the nasty things I've said about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-only-thing-that-will-be-remembered-about-my-enemies-after-they-re/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [They say: keep your friends close and your enemies closer. The problem is, nowadays you can't tell them apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-rowe/they-say-keep-your-friends-close-and-your-enemies-closer-the-problem/) [Rashida Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-rowe/) > [Keep friends close but keep enemies closer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/keep-friends-close-but-keep-enemies-closer/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [Keep their friends close and their enemies closer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/keep-their-friends-close-and-their-enemies-closer/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [At my funeral, if one said, 'Nick was a generous person,' trust me I won't be doing cartwheels in my coffin. Recognition from people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-vujicic/at-my-funeral-if-one-said-nick-was-a-generous-person-trust-me-i-won-t/) [Nick Vujicic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-vujicic/) > [“Isn't love any fun? Marjorie said. 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"As soon as this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/you-re-weird-nick-grumbled-but-he-turned-his-face-back-to-critically/) [Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/) > [“I'd be at work where poeple respected my opinions, said Nick. And then, I'd come home and it was like I was the village…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liane-moriarty/i-d-be-at-work-where-poeple-respected-my-opinions-said-nick-and-then/) [Liane Moriarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liane-moriarty/) > [“All right, said Nick. Let's get drunk. All right, Bill said. Let's get really drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/all-right-said-nick-let-s-get-drunk-all-right-bill-said-let-s-get/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Look. I brought you here to give you a choice-" "You didn't bring us here," said Nick. "You're here," said Bod. "I wanted you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/look-i-brought-you-here-to-give-you-a-choice-you-didn-t-bring-us-here/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by Mark Frost > [If you come in with all of the answers, you might create something that's very beautiful and powerful, but I think it will also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/if-you-come-in-with-all-of-the-answers-you-might-create-something/) [Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/) > [Americans are notoriously ill-equipped for self-reflection. We're usually a very boisterous, outward-moving bunch of people, but we don't understand that much about ourselves or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/americans-are-notoriously-ill-equipped-for-self-reflection-we-re/) [Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/) > [“Life is what it is, a gift that is given to us for a time—like a library book—that must eventually be returned. 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K. Hasan”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-k-hasan/never-let-your-enemies-become-your-advocates-by-a-k-hasan/) [A.K. Hasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-k-hasan/) > [I don't see why we and the Chinese should have to be enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-don-t-see-why-we-and-the-chinese-should-have-to-be-enemies/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [“If it takes night to make day, pain to know pleasure, black to make white, then doesn't it stand to reason that the depth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-snyder/if-it-takes-night-to-make-day-pain-to-know-pleasure-black-to-make/) [Michael Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-snyder/) > [“Enemies Teach. 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The kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/the-unforgiven-tell-me-if-you-ve-ever-had-to-deal-with-these-kinds-of/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [Sometimes even paranoids have enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/sometimes-even-paranoids-have-enemies/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [When a husband brings his wife flowers for no reason, there's a reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-mcgee/when-a-husband-brings-his-wife-flowers-for-no-reason-there-s-a-reason/) [Molly McGee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-mcgee/) > [You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/you-should-never-hate-anyone-even-your-worst-enemies-everyone-has/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“Anyone who is portraying Israel as a friend is a servant of Israel. I warn some sides against turning enemies into friends and friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sayed-hassan-nasrallah/anyone-who-is-portraying-israel-as-a-friend-is-a-servant-of-israel-i/) [Sayed Hassan Nasrallah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sayed-hassan-nasrallah/) > [No accurate thinker will judge another person by that which the other person's enemies say about him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/no-accurate-thinker-will-judge-another-person-by-that-which-the-other/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [Whoever will not love his enemies cannot know the Lord and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silouan-the-athonite/whoever-will-not-love-his-enemies-cannot-know-the-lord-and-the/) [Silouan the Athonite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silouan-the-athonite/) > [I play basketball hard-nosed and if you're not on my team, during that 48 minutes we're enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-barnes/i-play-basketball-hard-nosed-and-if-you-re-not-on-my-team-during-that/) [Matt Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-barnes/) > [“Enemies are people who's story you haven't heard, or who's face you haven't seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irene-butter/enemies-are-people-who-s-story-you-haven-t-heard-or-who-s-face-you/) [Irene Butter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irene-butter/) > [A sweet thing, perspective - a chance to see your enemies so small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/a-sweet-thing-perspective-a-chance-to-see-your-enemies-so-small/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) [Browse all 1,888 Enemies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You know the old saying,” said Nick. “Keep your friends close and your enemies dead and buried in the basement.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Frost" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-your-friends-close-and-your/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enemies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-your-friends-close-and-your/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/203/mark-frost-3850_enemies_you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-y_1914116.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/203/mark-frost-3850_enemies_you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-y_1914116.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/203/mark-frost-3850_enemies_you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-y_1914116.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You know the old saying,” said Nick. “Keep your friends close and your enemies dead and buried in the…” — Mark Frost", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mark Frost", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“You know the old saying,” said...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-your-friends-close-and-your/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/you-know-the-old-saying-said-nick-keep-your-friends-close-and-your/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```