In the first place, most princes apply themselves to the arts of war, in which I have neither ability nor interest, instead of to the good arts of peace. They are generally more set on acquiring new kingdoms by hook or by crook than on governing well those that they already have.

De Optimo Reipublicae Statu, Deque Nova Insula Utopia: (ed. Cambridge University Press, 1995) - ISBN: 9780521403184