Ferner können plötzlich entstandene Herrschaften, gleichwie Alles, was geschwind entsteht und wächst, keine tiefen Wurzeln schlagen; mithin reißt der erste Sturm sie aus: es sei denn, daß derjenige, den das Glück erhoben hat, so viel Verstand und Talent habe, das, was ihm der Zufall in den Schooß geworfen hat, zu bewahren, und die Unterlage nachzuholen, die Andre sich angeschafft haben, ehe sie Fürsten wurden.
States that rise unexpectedly, then, like all other things in nature which are born and grow rapidly, cannot leave their foundations and correspondencies fixed in such a way that the first storm will not overthrow them; unless, as is said, those who unexpectedly become princes are men of so much ability that they know they have to be prepared at once to hold that which fortune has thrown into their laps, and that those foundations, which others have laid BEFORE they became princes, they must lay AFTERWARDS.