“Machiavelli, however, took his bearings from people as they are. He defined the political project as making the best of this flawed material. He knew (in words Kant would write almost three centuries later) that nothing straight would be made from the crooked timber of humanity.”

— George Will

Speech at Washington University, Danforth Center for Religion and Politics, St. Louis, broadcast (4 December 2012)
2010s

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George Will 28

American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author 1941

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“Machiavelli, however, took his bearings from people as they are. He defined the political project as making the best of this flawed material. He knew (in words Kant would write almost three centuries later) that nothing straight would be made from the crooked timber of humanity.”

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