"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"For that reason, let a prince have the credit of conquering and holding his state, the means will always be considered honest, and he will be praised by everybody because the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it; and in the world there are only the vulgar, for the few find a place there only when the many have no ground to rest on."
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Source: Niccolo Machiavelli (2010). “The Prince”, p.73, FastPencil Inc
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