Eagles Don't Catch Flies.

A Good Prince Will Tax As Lightly As Possible Those Commodities Which Are Used By The Poorest Members Of Society: Grain, Bread, Beer, Wine, Clothing, And All Other Staples Without Which Human Life Could Not Exist.

Almost All Christians Being Wretchedly Enslaved To Blindness And Ignorance, Which The Priests Are So Far From Preventing Or Removing, That They Blacken The Darkness, And Promote The Delusion: Wisely Foreseeing That The People (like Cows, Which Never Give Down Their Milk So Well As When They Are Gently Stroked), Would Part With Less If They Knew More.

They Are Looking In Utter Darkness For That Which Has No Existence Whatsoever.

In Short, No Association Or Alliance Can Be Happy Or Stable Without Me. People Can't Long Tolerate A Ruler, Nor Can A Master His Servant, A Maid Her Mistress, A Teacher His Pupil, A Friend His Friend Nor A Wife Her Husband, A Landlord His Tenant, A Soldier His Comrade Nor A Party-goer His Companion, Unless They Sometimes Have Illusions About Each Other, Make Use Of Flattery, And Have The Sense To Turn A Blind Eye And Sweeten Life For Themselves With The Honey Of Folly.

The Entire World Is My Temple, And A Very Fine One Too, If I'm Not Mistaken, And I'll Never Lack Priests To Serve It As Long As There Are Men.