Machiavelli — "It is not the well-being of individuals, but the general good, that makes cities…"
It is not the well-being of individuals, but the general good, that makes cities great.
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More from Machiavelli
"Men are more apt to forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony."
"He who builds on the people, builds on mud."
"The injury that is to be done to a man must be such that one need not fear his revenge."
"The best fortress is to be found in the love of the people, for although you may have fortresses, they will not save you if you are hated by the people."
"He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command."
About Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Florentine diplomat and political theorist whose The Prince (written 1513) became the founding text of political realism and gave us the adjective 'Machiavellian.' Closely associated with Francesco Guicciardini (fellow Florentine political analyst and historian). For an intellectual contrast, see Erasmus of Rotterdam, Dutch humanist and The Education of a Christian Prince author (1516) — Erasmus's princely-instruction manual was published three years after Machiavelli's, for the same European audience, and is the explicit Christian-virtue alternative to Machiavellian power-realism. The cleanest 'realism vs idealism' founding pairing in modern political theory.