"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge."
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Source: Niccolo Machiavelli (2015). “The Prince”, p.25, Xist Publishing
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