We need to root out these bad judgments. That's where all our effort should go. What is crying and complaining? Just a judgment. What is misfortune? Just a judgment. What is civil unrest, disagreement, blame, accusations, godlessness, and pettiness? All of these are judgments — nothing more. They're judgments about things outside your control, as if those things were good or bad. If someone shifts these judgments to things that are actually up to them, I guarantee they'll stay steady and strong no matter what happens around them. Think of a bowl of water. Your soul is like that. The light hitting the water is like your impressions. When you shake the water, the light seems to move too — but it's not really moving. When someone gets dizzy, their skills and virtues aren't actually scrambled. It's just the mind they're impressed on that gets shaken. When the mind settles down, everything returns to normal.
We ought then to eradicate these bad opinions, and to this end we should direct all our efforts. For what is weeping and lamenting? Opinion. What is bad fortune? Opinion. What is civil sedition, what is divided opinion, what is blame, what is accusation, what is impiety, what is trifling? All these things are opinions, and nothing more, and opinions about things independent of the will, as if they were good and bad. Let a man transfer these opinions to things dependent on the will, and I engage for him that he will be firm and constant, whatever may be the state of things around him. Such as is a dish of water, such is the soul. Such as is the ray of light which falls on the water, such are the appearances. When the water is moved, the ray also seems to be moved, yet it is not moved. And when then a man is seized with giddiness, it is not the arts and the virtues which are confounded, but the spirit (the nervous power) on which they are impressed; but if the spirit be restored to its settled state, those things also are restored.