"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"All who contribute to the overthrow of religion, or to the ruin of kingdoms and commonwealths, all who are foes to letters and to the arts which confer honour and benefit on the human race (among whom I reckon the impious, the cruel, the ignorant, the indolent, the base and the worthless), are held in infamy and detestation."
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Source: Discourses on Livy by Niccolò Machiavelli, book 1, ch. 3, 1517.
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