Everything is lawful to him who obeys the dictates of a vigorous mind
and a strong heart. When I deceived my enemies I was magnanimous, not
treacherous. And if you make it a crime to have employed, in order to
save my party, the man who tore down his party's standard, then you are
wrong, Fra Ambrogio, for nature, not I, had made him a traitor, and it
was I, not nature, who turned his treachery to good use.