The reason grandchildren and grandparents get along so well is that they have a common enemy.

Sam Levenson (1911–1980) was an American humorist, television personality, and after-dinner speaker known for domestic and family-centered comedy. This quip belongs to his repertoire of observational one-liners about everyday relationships, especially the generational frictions and alliances inside the family. In mid-20th-century American humor, jokes about children versus parents—and grandparents as indulgent co-conspirators—were a common way to deflate sentimental ideals of family harmony. Levenson’s line plays on that familiar household dynamic, presenting the grandparent–grandchild bond as strengthened by their shared opposition to parental authority.

The joke reframes the warmth between grandparents and grandchildren as strategic rather than purely affectionate: they “get along” because both can position the parents as the said “common enemy.” Levenson is not literally demonizing parents; he is highlighting the comic truth that family roles create shifting coalitions. Grandparents often relax rules and offer sympathy, while grandchildren chafe against restrictions—so each finds the other a natural ally. The line also gently critiques how authority can isolate parents, who must enforce boundaries, while those outside the enforcement role can appear more lovable. Its bite comes from compressing a complex family psychology into mock-military language.