France, 1580
“De l’occasion et de la fortune.” In Pensees politiques
Chicago, Newberry Library, VAULT folio Case MS 5228
This philosophical text reflects on the potential impact on society of different kinds of personal beliefs about chance and fortune. It appears in a manuscript containing a series of meditations on government, intended to provide advice to rulers, compiled in about 1580, which the Newberry Library purchased in 1985. The author has not been identified. See below for a rough English translation of the first paragraph presented in the section that we have digitized.
