Fortuna & Virtù

Half is chance; the other half is what you do with chance.

Machiavelli's central dichotomy. Fortuna – fortune, chance, the river that floods – is half of human affairs. Virtù – the vigorous, decisive grip the prince brings to her – shares only its name with Christian virtue. She favors the bold. She, in his famous misogynist image, is a woman who must be mastered.