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Well, I would choose Machiavelli. I agree to a certain extent with Mirandola's ideas, but when I look around, I see a Machiavellian world. I don't see a world where people recognize their individual worth, or the worth in others. Machiavelli and Mirandola are opposite ends of the spectrum of human nature. Yes, people can be kind and generous and caring and compassionate, but they can also be hateful and petty and vindictive.
The reason I agree with Machiavelli more is because I think it is easier to be a bad person than a good person. It is much easier to be morally weak and lazy than it is to have character and honesty. It's also easy to raise your children to be dishonest and lazy and unethical, but it isn't so easy to foster honesty and integrity in your children. There will also always be greed, envy and lust in humans.
I may be jaded and cynical, but that's just how I see things. I think it is extremely foolish for a ruler to rely on the positive aspects of human nature. That is not to say that I think it is better, I just think that it's the way things are.
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