The problem inherent in the surface of things, and only in the surface of things, is the heart of things. Thoughts on Machiavelli (1958)
We shall not shock anyone, we shall merely expose ourselves to good-natured or at any rate harmless ridicule, if we profess ourselves inclined to the old fashioned and simple opinion according to which Machiavelli was a teacher of evil. Thoughts on Machiavelli (1958)
The most superficial fact regarding the Discourses, the fact that the number of its chapters equals the number of books of Livy's History, compelled us to start a chain of tentative reasoning which brings us suddenly face to face with the only New Testament quotation that ever appears in Machiavelli's two books and with an enormous blasphemy. Thoughts on Machiavelli (1958)