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.
Misattributed
“Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.”
Variation: Defend me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies myself The quote has been attributed to Voltaire, who was using it after Villars. Quoted in Connie Robertson, Dictionary of Quotations, 1998
Source: The 48 Laws of Power
“I can be on guard against my enemies, but God deliver me from my friends!”
In response to George Henry Lewes (LL, II, v, 272); Miriam Farris Allott (1974), The Brontës, the critical heritage, page 160;
“In my attempt to be helpful, I found myself defending my suggestion.”
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!
Transcript from Seale's conspiracy case as part of the Chicago 8 (October 1968)
“It occurred to me that if my friends were loathsome, perhaps I needed to learn from my enemies.”
Homecoming saga, Earthborn (1995)
Source: The Name of the Wind
“A Covenant not to defend my selfe from force, by force, is always voyd.”
The First Part, Chapter 14, p. 69
Leviathan (1651)
S. Byington, trans. (1913), p. 191
The Ego and Its Own (1845)
Robert Spencer talking about identifying Islamic extremists, Michelle interviews Robert Spencer about Religion of Peace: Why Christianity is and Islam Isn’t, 2007-08-13 http://hotair.com/archives/2007/08/13/new-vent-michelle-interviews-robert-spencer-about-religion-of-peace-why-christianity-is-and-islam-isnt/,
