If you want to keep people from realizing their collective strength, make them too afraid of each other to ever meet or talk.
— Pullman, The Unwritten
Go after a group of people directly, and they pull together, they get stronger. Taking out a tight-knit group is about making them turn on each other. Plant the seeds of distrust and watch them grow.
I can hire one-half of the working class to kill the other half.
— American Strike-breaker Jay Gould
Uhh, unfortunately... that really wasn't how I, uh, expected all of this to end. See, I... I-I really thought you'd all turn on each other by now... but you didn't.
— Phone Guy, via Evil Phone, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Musical
"Your faith in mankind was not misplaced; when banded together, unified by a common enemy, they are a noticeable threat. But divide them, place doubt into their minds, and any semblance of power they once had will wash away."
— Salem, RWBY
Divide them
Tear them apart
Sever their trust
It will strangle their hearts
Inside them
Plant seeds of doubt
Hope will be smothered
They'll turn on each other
Hatred will sprout
Suspicion and doubt
Friendships deny
While allegiances die
Tear them apart
Sever their trust
It will strangle their hearts
Inside them
Plant seeds of doubt
Hope will be smothered
They'll turn on each other
Hatred will sprout
Suspicion and doubt
Friendships deny
While allegiances die
That’s what apartheid did: It convinced every group that it was because the other race that it didn’t get into the club. It’s basically a bouncer at the door telling you, “We can’t let you in because of your friend Darren and his ugly shoes.” So you look at Darren and say, “Screw you, Black Darren. You’re holding me back.” Then when Darren goes up, the bouncer says, “No, it’s actually your friend Sizwe and his weird hair.” So Darren says, “Screw you, Sizwe,” and now everyone hates everyone. But the truth is that none of you were ever getting into the club.
Future Drakken: That's the spirit! Now, gloat! Tell them how you did it!
Future Shego: (sigh) All right. Went back in time, went big into dot-coms, got out before the bubble burst, opened a bank, transferred your sidekick's mother to Norway, started an evil think tank...
Ron: Wait a minute, what?
Ron: No, before that!
Future Shego: Oh, oh, yeah, I transferred your mama to Norway. You know, break up the team.
Kim: You broke us up?
Future Shego: D'oy! See, traveling into your past, I realized one thing: as a team, you two are actually solid. Why? Don't know, don't care. So, I broke you up by sending the clown as far away as possible.
—Kim Possible, "A Sitch in Time (Part 3)"
Penny: You're trying to push Don into a rumble with Hutch, aren't ya?
Kimble: Is that what I'm trying to do?
Penny: Now look, mister, I'm no high school drop-out. I mean I know all about Caesar and that divide and conquer.
Kimble: Divide and rule. It was Machiavelli.
— The Fugitive, "The Devil's Disciples"
