"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"...it is a base thing to look to others for your defense instead of depending upon yourself. That defense alone is effectual, sure, and durable which depends upon yourself and your own valor."
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Source: Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations by Jehiel Keeler Hoyt, p. 372-75, Dei Discorsi, III. 38, 1922.
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