Like Water

“The soul is like the bowl of water, with the soul's impressions like the rays of light that strike the water. Now, if the water is disturbed, the light appears to be disturbed together with it — though of course it is not. So when someone loses consciousness [composure], it is not the person's knowledge and virtues that are impaired, it is the breath that contains them [the spirit in which they exist]. Once the breath [spirit] returns to normal, knowledge and the virtues are restored to normal also.” (Epictetus, Discourses and Selected Writings)

The beauty of wisdom and loving it, the art of philosophy, is that wisdom never changes. One either does what is right or does what is not right -- wisdom never changes. One is shown to be wise by right and is shown to be foolish by what is not right. One may abandon wisdom, but wisdom will never abandon you. If the soul is disturbed by some minor distraction or flagrant foolishness, wisdom is not disturbed. When the soul is calmed, it is one with wisdom.