Fear is as dangerous an enemy as resentment. - Niccolò Machiavelli

But above all he must refrain from seizing the property of others, because a man is quicker to forget the death of his father than the loss of his patrimony.

There is no other way of guarding oneself against flattery than by letting men understand that they will not offend you by speaking the truth; but when everyone can tell you the truth, you lose their respect.

For a Monarchy readily becomes a Tyranny, an Aristocracy an Oligarchy, while a Democracy tends to degenerate into Anarchy.