The phrase “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is an ancient proverb, not a traceable quote from a single, known person like a modern author or politician.

Who said it?

Most scholars treat this as a traditional proverb whose exact original author is unknown.

  • The idea appears in the ancient Indian political treatise Arthaśāstra (4th century BCE), which describes how a king should see the neighbor of his enemy as a potential ally.
  • A closely related Latin formulation, “Amicus meus, inimicus inimici mei” (“my friend, the enemy of my enemy”), was common in Europe by the 18th century.

So in everyday terms: no single person “said it first” in the way people sometimes claim; it developed as a strategic proverb over many centuries.

When did the modern wording appear?

The specific English wording “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is relatively recent.

  • Sources note that the current English version’s first recorded use is from the late 1800s (often cited as 1884).
  • Before that, the concept circulated in Sanskrit and Latin texts and in diplomatic/statecraft traditions rather than in this exact English sentence.

In modern times, the proverb is frequently quoted in politics, strategy, and pop culture, but those are reuses of a much older, anonymous saying, not its origin.

TL;DR: No single historical figure definitively “said” it first; the proverb traces back to ancient Indian statecraft (Arthaśāstra), later appears in a Latin form in Europe, and only shows up in the familiar English wording in the 19th century.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.