QuoteProject
I keep my enemies close/ I give 'em enough rope/ They put themselves in the air/ I just kick away the chair.
Jay-Z
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects the idea of being strategic in handling adversaries, allowing them to reveal their own flaws.

In this quote, Jay-Z articulates a cunning approach toward dealing with enemies. By keeping them close and giving them the opportunity to expose their own vulnerabilities, he highlights a strategic advantage. This method emphasizes patience and observation, ultimately leading to the enemy's downfall without the need for direct confrontation.

Themes

EnemiesStrategyWisdomPatienceObservation

In practice

Example use cases

In a business meeting when discussing competition.

More from Jay-Z

Artists can have greater access to reality; they can see patterns and details and connections that other people, distracted by the blur of life, might miss. Just sharing that truth can be a very powerful thing.
Jay-ZRead
The most amazing feeling I feel_x000D_ _x000D_ Words can't describe what I'm feeling for real _x000D_ _x000D_ Maybe I paint the sky blue _x000D_ _x000D_ My greatest creation was you.
Jay-ZRead
Far from a Harvard student, just had the balls to do it
Jay-ZRead
I never ask for nothin' I don't demand of myself. Honesty, loyalty, friends and then wealth
Jay-ZRead
It was a very intense and stressful situation. There was playing in the Johnny-pump (an opened fire hydrant) and the ice-cream man coming around and all of these games that we'd play, and suddenly it would turn just violent and there would be shootings at 12 in the afternoon on any given day.
Jay-ZRead
I would run into the corner store, the bodega, and just grab a paper bag or buy juice - anything just to get a paper bag. And I'd write the words on the paper bag and stuff these ideas in my pocket until I got back. Then I would transfer them into the notebook.
Jay-ZRead

Similar quotes

Every desire of your body is holy;_x000D_ _x000D_ Every desire of your body is_x000D_ _x000D_ Holy.
HafezRead
Do not answer the person whose questions are vile. Do not question a person whose answers are vile.
ConfuciusRead
When you expect the world to end at any moment, you know there is no need to hurry. You take your time, you do your work well.
Thomas MertonRead
Does anyone remember laughter?
Robert PlantRead
If in this hell of a world one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart of a single person, that much alone is true; this I have learnt after suffering all my life; all else is mere moonshine.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Lyra learns to her great cost that fantasy isn’t enough. She has been lying all her life, telling stories to people, making up fantasies, and suddenly she comes to a point where that’s not enough. All she can do is tell the truth. She tells the truth about her childhood, about the experiences she had in Oxford, and that is what saves her. True experience, not fantasy - reality, not lies - is what saves us in the end.
Philip PullmanRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.