Without an opportunity, their abilities would have been wasted, and without their abilities, the opportunity would have arisen in vain. - Niccolò Machiavelli

In general you must either pamper people or destroy them; harm them just a little and they’ll hit back; harm them seriously and they won’t be able to. So if you’re going to do people harm, make sure you needn’t worry about their reaction.

When everyone feels free to tell you the truth, respect for you dwindles… A wise prince should take another course: choose wise men for your advisors, and allow only them the liberty of speaking the truth to the prince, and only on matters about which you ask, and nothing else. But you should question them about everything, listen patiently to their opinions, then form your own conclusions later.

Hence it comes that all armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed.