Niccolò Machiavelli：The Prince, Excerpt 85

And if there are some who think that a prince who conveys an impression of his wisdom is not so through his own ability, but through the good advisers that he has around him, beyond doubt they are deceived, because this is an axiom which never fails: that a prince who is not wise himself will never take good advice, unless by chance he has yielded his affairs entirely to one person who happens to be a very prudent man. In this case indeed he may be well governed, but it would not be for long, because such a governor would in a short time take away his state from him.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1232
Locator：Excerpt 85 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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