How to Keep Your Enemy Close

Sunzoo's most often quoted advice was to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But here the stratagem is far more duplicitous. The sole purpose of keeping your enemy close is not just to understand them but to deceive them with a treatable act that would see their downfall. Hide a knife behind a smile. Charm and ingratiate yourself with your enemy. Then when you have gained his trust, move against him in secret.