The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

most
inclined to strike. And if any one is to be deprived of his power,
let it be diminished gradually, not taken from him all at once. The
tyrant should abstain from all outrage; in particular from personal
violence and from wanton conduct towards the young. He should be
especially careful of his behavior to men who are lovers of honor;
for as the lovers of money are offended when their property is
touched, so are the lovers of honor and the virtuous when their
honor is affected. Therefore a tyrant ought either not to commit
such acts at all; or he should be thought only to employ fatherly
correction, and not to trample upon others—and his acquaintance
with youth should be supposed to arise from affection, and not from
the insolence of power, and in general he should compensate the
appearance of dishonor by the increase of honor.
    Of those who attempt assassination they are the most dangerous,
and require to be most carefully watched, who do not care to
survive, if they effect their purpose. Therefore special precaution
should be taken about any who think that either they or those for
whom they care have been insulted; for when men are led away by
passion to assault others they are regardless of themselves. As
Heracleitus says, ‘It is difficult to fight against anger; for a
man will buy revenge with his soul.’
    And whereas states consist of two classes, of poor men and of
rich, the tyrant should lead both to imagine that they are
preserved and prevented from harming one another by his rule, and
whichever of the two is stronger he should attach to his
government; for, having this advantage, he has no need either to
emancipate slaves or to disarm the citizens; either party added to
the force which he already has, will make him stronger than his
assailants.
    But enough of these details; what should be the general policy
of the tyrant is obvious. He ought to show himself to his subjects
in the light, not of a tyrant, but of a steward and a king. He
should not appropriate what is theirs, but should be their
guardian; he should be moderate, not extravagant in his way of
life; he should win the notables by companionship, and the
multitude by flattery. For then his rule will of necessity be
nobler and happier, because he will rule over better men whose
spirits are not crushed, over men to whom he himself is not an
object of hatred, and of whom he is not afraid. His power too will
be more lasting. His disposition will be virtuous, or at least half
virtuous; and he will not be wicked, but half wicked only.
XII
    Yet no forms of government are so short-lived as oligarchy and
tyranny. The tyranny which lasted longest was that of Orthagoras
and his sons at Sicyon; this continued for a hundred years. The
reason was that they treated their subjects with moderation, and to
a great extent observed the laws; and in various ways gained the
favor of the people by the care which they took of them.
Cleisthenes, in particular, was respected for his military ability.
If report may be believed, he crowned the judge who decided against
him in the games; and, as some say, the sitting statue in the Agora
of Sicyon is the likeness of this person. (A similar story is told
of Peisistratus, who is said on one occasion to have allowed
himself to be summoned and tried before the Areopagus.)
    Next in duration to the tyranny of Orthagoras was that of the
Cypselidae at Corinth, which lasted seventy-three years and six
months: Cypselus reigned thirty years, Periander forty and a half,
and Psammetichus the son of Gorgus three. Their continuance was due
to similar causes: Cypselus was a popular man, who during the whole
time of his rule never had a bodyguard; and Periander, although he
was a tyrant, was a great soldier. Third in duration was the rule
of the Peisistratidae at Athens, but it was interrupted; for
Peisistratus was twice driven out, so that during three and thirty
years he reigned only seventeen; and his sons reigned
eighteen-altogether thirty-five years. Of other tyrannies, that of
Hiero and Gelo at Syracuse was the most lasting. Even this,
however, was short, not more than eighteen years in all; for Gelo
continued tyrant for seven years, and died in the eighth; Hiero
reigned for ten years, and Thrasybulus was driven out in the
eleventh month. In fact, tyrannies generally have been of quite
short duration.
    I have now gone through almost all the causes by which
constitutional governments and monarchies are either destroyed