Chapter 25
Famous likening of fortune to a violent river that can be controlled by dikes and dams built in advance; concludes fortune is a woman who must be beaten and coerced, favoring the young and bold.
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From The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
Machiavelli argues that political success depends on the interplay between virtu (skill, prowess, decisive action) and fortuna (chance), and that a prudent prince must prepare in calm times to resist fortune's storms.
Chapter 6
Praises Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, and Theseus as armed prophets who owed nothing to fortune except opportunity, contrasting them with those who rely on luck.
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Cesare Borgia as exemplar of one who rose by fortune (his father's favor) but failed because fortune turned; still held up as a model of virtu in acquiring a state.
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