"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"I don't doubt that every prince would like to be both; but since it is hard to accomodate these qualities, if you have to make a choice, to be feared is much safer than to be loved. For it is a good general rule about men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, fearful of danger and greedy for gain....[love] is a link of obligation which men, because they are rotten, will break anything they think doing so serves their advantage; but fear involves dread of punishment, from which they can never escape."
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Source: Niccolo Machiavelli, Thomas Moore (2010). “Machiavelli, More & Luther”, p.19, Cosimo, Inc.
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