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. [664] The whole of mankind are thus divided by the Stoics into two classes—those who are wise and those who are foolish; [665] 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. [666] 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. [667] The Stoics delight in insisting upon the perfection of the wise man, and contrasting with it the absolute faultiness of the foolish man, in a series of paradoxical assertions. [668] The wise man only is free, because he only uses his will to control himself; [669] he only is beautiful, because only virtue is beautiful and attractive; [670] he only is rich and happy (εὐτυχὴς), because goods of the soul are the most valuable, true riches consisting in being independent of wants. [671] Nay, more, he is absolutely rich, since he who has a right view of everything has everything in his intellectual treasury, [672] and he who makes the right use of everything bears to everything the relation of owner. [673] The wise only know how to obey, and they also only know how to govern; they only are therefore kings, generals, pilots; [674] they only are orators, poets, and prophets; [675] and since their view of the Gods and their worship of the Gods is the true one, only amongst them can true piety be found—they are the only priests and friends of heaven; all foolish men, on the contrary, are impious, profane, and enemies of the Gods. [676] Only the wise man is capable of feeling gratitude, love, and friendship, [677] he only is capable of receiving a benefit, nothing being of use or advantage to the foolish man. [678] To sum up, the wise man is absolutely perfect, absolutely free from passion and want, absolutely happy; [679] as the Stoics conclusively assert, he in no way falls short of the happiness of Zeus, [680] since time, the only point in which he differs from Zeus, does not augment happiness at all.