That conceit, elegantly expressed by the Emperor Charles V., in his instructions to the King, his son, "that fortune hath somewhat the nature of a woman, that if she be too much wooed she is the farther off."

Behind every great fortune there is a crime.

Therefore if a man look sharply and attentively, he shall see Fortune: for though she be blind, yet she is not invisible.

The way of fortune is like the milky way in the sky; which is a number of smaller stars, not seen asunder, but giving light together; so it is a number of little and scarce discerned virtues, or rather faculties and customs, that make men fortunate

He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.

It cannot be denied that outward accidents conduce much to fortune, favor, opportunity, death of others, occasion fitting virtue; but chiefly, the mold of a man's fortune is in his own hands