"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"It is the duty of a man of honor to teach others the good which he has not been able to do himself because of the malignity of the times, that this good finally can be done by another more loved in heaven."
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Source: The Prince ch. 14 (1532) (translation by Angelo M. Codevilla)
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