Note 145 — Chapter X · ETHICS. THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE STOIC ETHICS. ABSTRACT THEORY OF MORALITY.

C. The wise man. (1) Wisdom and folly. From what has been said, it follows that there can be but one thoroughgoing moral distinction for all mankind, the distinction between the virtuous and the vicious; and that within each of these classes there can be no difference in degree. He who possesses virtue possesses it whole and entire; he who lacks it lacks it altogether; and whether he is near or far from possessing it is a matter of no moment. He who is only a hand-breadth below the surface of the water will be drowned just as surely as one who is five hundred fathoms deep; he who is blind sees equally little whether he will recover his sight to-morrow or never.145 The whole of mankind are thus divided by the Stoics into two classes—those who are wise and those who are foolish;146 and these two classes are treated by them as mutually exclusive, each one being complete in itself. Among the wise no folly, among the foolish no wisdom of any kind, is possible.147 The wise man is absolutely free from faults and mistakes: all that he does is right; in him all virtues centre; he has a right opinion on every subject, and never a wrong one, nor, indeed, ever what is merely an opinion. The bad man, on the contrary, can do nothing aright; he has every kind of vice; he has no right knowledge, and is altogether rude, violent, cruel, and ungrateful.148