It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope. – Niccolo Machiavelli
When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content. – Niccolo Machiavelli
The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. – Niccolo Machiavelli
There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor through others. This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless. – Niccolo Machiavelli