To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people. – Niccolo Machiavelli
I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself. – Niccolo Machiavelli