"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
"The prince must consider, as has been in part said before, how to avoid those things which will make him hated or contemptible; and as often as he shall have succeeded he will have fulfilled his part, and he need not fear any danger in other reproaches."
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Source: Niccolo Machiavelli (2015). “The Prince”, p.80, Xist Publishing
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