"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"A wise prince then...should never be idle in times of peace but should industriously lay up stores of which to avail himself in times of adversity so that when fortune abandons him he may be prepared to resist her blows."
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Source: Niccolo Machiavelli (2015). “The Prince”, p.80, Xist Publishing
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