Firishta's History (Gulshan-i Ibrāhīmī) 33.4.2

33.4.2

Spare no pains to discover men of genius, learning, and courage. You must cherish them by kindness and munificence, that they may prove the soul of your councils, and the instruments of your authority. Throw not down a great man to the ground for a small crime, nor yet entirely overlook his offence. Raise not a low man too hastily to a high station, lest he forget himself, and be an eye-sore to men of superior merit. Never attempt any thing, unless through necessity, but what you are sure to accomplish; and having once determined upon a measure, let your perseverance be never shaken, nor your mind be ever averted from the object. For it is "better for a king to be obstinate, than pusillanimous and vacillating; as in the first case he may chance to be right, in the latter he is sure to be wrong. Nothing more certainly in- "dicates the weakness of a prince than a wavering "mind."