Sublime

The time may be already anticipated at which the American Republics will be obliged to introduce the plan of election by an elected body more frequently into their system of representation, or they will incur no small risk of perishing miserably amongst the shoals of democracy.

for to attempt to render the representative of the State a powerful sovereign, and at the same time elective, is, in my opinion, to entertain two incompatible designs.

virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private.

Outwardly, you must seem to respect the niceties, but inwardly, unless you are a fool, you learn quickly to be prudent, and to do as Napoleon advised: Place your iron hand inside a velvet glove.

Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires. THE PRINCE, Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527

As Machiavelli noted, the best strategy is often the one that no one believes you will undertake because it is either so high risk or so destructive that it is hard to imagine anyone actually implementing it. But sometimes, there is no alternative.

príncipe, tanto na má como na boa fortuna. Isso não pode resultar de outra coisa senão daquela sua desumana crueldade que, aliada às suas infinitas virtudes, o tornou sempre venerado e terrível no conceito de seus soldados;