Men seldom rise from low condition to high rank without employing either force or fraud, unless that rank should be attained either by gift or inheritance.
Niccolo MachiavelliThe chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.
Niccolo MachiavelliA prince must not have any other object nor any other thoughtโฆ but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands.
Niccolo Machiavelli