Niccolò Machiavelli：The Prince, Excerpt 80

But to enable a prince to form an opinion of his servant there is one test which never fails; when you see the servant thinking more of his own interests than of yours, and seeking inwardly his own profit in everything, such a man will never make a good servant, nor will you ever be able to trust him; because he who has the state of another in his hands ought never to think of himself, but always of his prince, and never pay any attention to matters in which the prince is not concerned.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1232
Locator：Excerpt 80 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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