--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If possible, leave room for your enemy to…" description: "\"If possible, leave room for your enemy to become your friend.\" — Robert A. Heinlein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/robert-a-heinlein-209_enemy_if-possible-leave-room-for-your-enemy-to_2303573.jpg" --- # If possible, leave room for your enemy to become your… ![“If possible, leave room for your enemy to become your friend.” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/robert-a-heinlein-209_enemy_if-possible-leave-room-for-your-enemy-to_2303573.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/robert-a-heinlein-209_enemy_if-possible-leave-room-for-your-enemy-to_2303573.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/robert-a-heinlein-209_enemy_if-possible-leave-room-for-your-enemy-to_2303573.jpg) > “If possible, leave room for your enemy to become your friend.” [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Transform enemies into allies by allowing space for understanding and change. **In simple terms:** Turn foes into friends. Key Takeaway Seek common ground. Themes conflict resolution empathy strategy Mood strategic hopeful Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - negotiations - team building - community activism - personal relationships Key Concepts political theory psychology social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - When can you offer an olive branch? - What risks exist in trusting an enemy? A Different Perspective It may be unrealistic with hostile parties. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Enemy Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy-friend-404277/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Leave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leave/) [Leave Room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leave-room-433678/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Room Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/room-enemy-5450833/) [Rooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooms/) ## Related quotes > [You have to leave room in life to dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buffy-sainte-marie/you-have-to-leave-room-in-life-to-dream/) [Buffy Sainte-Marie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buffy-sainte-marie/) > [By the time I'm done with my show, I'm in Never-Never Land. Usually I leave the room for the auction and try to chill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-israel/by-the-time-i-m-done-with-my-show-i-m-in-never-never-land-usually-i/) [Michael Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-israel/) > [Time to leave now, get out of this room, go somewhere, anywhere; sharpen this feeling of happiness and freedom, stretch your limbs, fill your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/time-to-leave-now-get-out-of-this-room-go-somewhere-anywhere-sharpen/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [While it is often true that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, it seems like Yahoo's almost obsessive focus on Google is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-swisher/while-it-is-often-true-that-the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend-it/) [Kara Swisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-swisher/) > [If you treat people with dignity, respect and friendliness, you can turn enemies into friends. An enemy is nothing but a friend in disguise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/if-you-treat-people-with-dignity-respect-and-friendliness-you-can/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Thou can'st not joke an enemy into a friend, but thou may'st a friend into an enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/thou-can-st-not-joke-an-enemy-into-a-friend-but-thou-may-st-a-friend/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“No! I scream through the bars. Over the trees."No!" Do not let her leave. Do not let her leave that room! He's not coming.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/no-i-scream-through-the-bars-over-the-trees-no-do-not-let-her-leave/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [Safe, I decided, didn't leave much room for fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/safe-i-decided-didn-t-leave-much-room-for-fun/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If we leave our smells behind us when we leave a room, surely something of our souls must remain when we leave this life?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/if-we-leave-our-smells-behind-us-when-we-leave-a-room-surely/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [“You say cute. I say plague-carrying, sticky-fingered dirt monsters,” Sheridan said slapping Eve on the shoulder as she passed her to leave the room.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-c-mock/you-say-cute-i-say-plague-carrying-sticky-fingered-dirt-monsters/) [Elizabeth C. Mock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-c-mock/) > [“If you don't leave room for the unexpected to express itself in your life, you close yourself off from the possibility of miracles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stikmanz/if-you-don-t-leave-room-for-the-unexpected-to-express-itself-in-your/) [Robert Stikmanz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stikmanz/) > [I used to wanna change the world. Now I just wanna leave the room with a little dignity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-vivian-bond/i-used-to-wanna-change-the-world-now-i-just-wanna-leave-the-room-with/) [Justin Vivian Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-vivian-bond/) > [I don't really rate press conferences. It's not as though I leave the room fist-pumping my way down the corridor after a good one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-roddick/i-don-t-really-rate-press-conferences-it-s-not-as-though-i-leave-the/) [Andy Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-roddick/) > [“We resent being talked to. We’d rather be talked with. So will all of the experts and the terminally self-absorbed please leave the room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-scott/we-resent-being-talked-to-we-d-rather-be-talked-with-so-will-all-of/) [Susan Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-scott/) > [If you leave me in a room long enough, I'll redecorate the room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-sixx/if-you-leave-me-in-a-room-long-enough-i-ll-redecorate-the-room/) [Nikki Sixx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-sixx/) ## More by Robert A. Heinlein > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Women will forgive anything. Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/women-will-forgive-anything-otherwise-the-race-would-have-died-out/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/most-neuroses-and-some-psychoses-can-be-traced-to-the-unnecessary-and/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-instinct-to-survive-is-human-nature-itself-and-every-aspect-of/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I tried to dig out of the computer a call directory for Luna. But it was still sulking. I could not get it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-tried-to-dig-out-of-the-computer-a-call-directory-for-luna-but-it/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“this has more aspects than a cat has hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/this-has-more-aspects-than-a-cat-has-hair/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-own-more-than-you-can-carry-in-both-hands-at-a-dead-run/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“In Wilson's scale of evaluations breakfast rated just after life itself and ahead of the chance of immortality." ~ By His Bootstraps / Robert A. Heinlein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-wilson-s-scale-of-evaluations-breakfast-rated-just-after-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Explore all 888 Robert A. Heinlein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More Enemy quotes > [Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/shall-there-be-truth-between-us-as-two-men-not-as-friends-but-as/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Before you were my enemy, you were my best friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kresley-cole/before-you-were-my-enemy-you-were-my-best-friend/) [Kresley Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kresley-cole/) > [It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-the-rule-in-war-if-our-forces-are-ten-to-the-enemy-s-one-to/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Fear is a man's worst enemy, but love is a man's most powerful weapon against anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fear-is-a-man-s-worst-enemy-but-love-is-a-man-s-most-powerful-weapon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The surprise of an army is now next to an impossibility. ... Prearranged surprises are rare and difficult because in order to plan one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-henri-jomini/the-surprise-of-an-army-is-now-next-to-an-impossibility-prearranged/) [Antoine-Henri Jomini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-henri-jomini/) > [“Never let your Enemies become your Advocates.” by A. 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/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [To achieve victory we must mass our forces at the hub of all power & movement. The enemy's 'Center of Gravity'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-achieve-victory-we-must-mass-our-forces-at-the-hub-of-all-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [In this business, you find the enemy, then go after and destroy him. Everything else is rubbish!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-rickenbacker/in-this-business-you-find-the-enemy-then-go-after-and-destroy-him/) [Eddie Rickenbacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-rickenbacker/) > [“Enemies Teach. Friends Preach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tapan-ghosh/enemies-teach-friends-preach/) [Tapan Ghosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tapan-ghosh/) [Browse all 7,981 Enemy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If possible, leave room for your enemy to become your friend.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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