The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. – Niccolo Machiavelli
No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution. – Niccolo Machiavelli
Men should be either treated generously or destroyed, because they take revenge for slight injuries – for heavy ones they cannot. – Niccolo Machiavelli
The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow. – Niccolo Machiavelli