"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"A prince must be prudent enough to know how to escape the bad reputation of those vices that would lose the state for him, and must protect himself from those that will not lose it for him, if this is possible; but if he cannot, he need not concern himself unduly if he ignores these less serious vices."
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Source: Niccolo Machiavelli (1979). “The Portable Machiavelli”, p.90, Penguin
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