Except when due to foreign conquest, the collapse of traditional power is always the result of its abuse by men who believe, as Machiavelli believed, that its hold on men's minds is too firm to be shaken even by the grossest crimes.
Source: Power, a new social analysis, 1938, by Bertrand Russell
More info.:
https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_280.HTM
#Bertrand_Russell