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But confining myself more to the particular, I say that a prince

may be seen happy to-day and ruined to-morrow without having

shown any change of disposition or character. This, I believe,

arises firstly from causes that have already been discussed at

length, namely, that the prince who relies entirely on fortune is

lost when it changes. I believe also that he will be successful

who directs his actions according to the spirit of the times, and

that he whose actions do not accord with the times will not be

successful. Because men are seen, in affairs that lead to the end

which every man has before him, namely, glory and riches, to get

there by various methods; one with caution, another with haste;

one by force, another by skill; one by patience, another by its

opposite; and each one succeeds in reaching the goal by a

different method.