"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"If you only notice human proceedings, you may observe that all who attain great power and riches, make use of either force or fraud; and what they have acquired either by deceit or violence, in order to conceal the disgraceful methods of attainment, they endeavor to sanctify with the false title of honest gains."
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Source: Niccolo Machiavelli (2018). “History of Florence and the Affairs of Italy”, p.115, Ozymandias Press
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