Cardinal Richelieu's Six Lines

The remark that "If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him" is commonly attributed to Cardinal Richelieu. The historical evidence for the attribution may not be as shaky as that for Lenin's alleged remark about "useful idiots," but it is very weak.

For my part the remark interests me far less as testimony to Richelieu's having been Machiavellian in outlook than its truthfulness. Those with a mind to find excuses to destroy someone can and do find it in anything they do--as we are ceaselessly reminded in the age of "cancel culture."