"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"One can generally say this about men: that they are ungrateful, fickle, simulators and deceivers, avoiders of danger, greedy for gain; and while you work for their good they are completely yours, offering you their blood, their property, their lives, and their sons when danger is far away; but when it comes nearer to you, they turn away."
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Source: Niccolo Machiavelli (1979). “The Portable Machiavelli”, p.93, Penguin
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