Patience is humility in relation to time.
- . . . adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience. [Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Education“]
- Every man must patiently bide his time. He must wait — not in listless idleness but in constant, steady, cheerful endeavors, always willing and fulfilling and accomplishing his task, that when the occasion comes he may be equal to the occasion. [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hyperion, Book I, Chapter VIII]
- Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them — every day begin the task anew. [St. Francis de Sales]
- How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees? [William Shakespeare, “Othello,” Act II, Scene III]
- I have little patience with scientists who take a board of wood, look for its thinnest part, and drill a great number of holes where drilling is easy. [Albert Einstein]
- Let me look upward into the branches of the flowering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well. [Wilferd A. Peterson]
- Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily. [Johann Friedrich von Schiller]
- Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown. [Chinese proverb]
- Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow — that is patience. [source unknown]
- Patience is passion tamed. [Lyman Abbott]
- The principle part of faith is patience. [George MacDonald]
- The patient man shows much good sense, but the quick-tempered man displays folly at its height. [The Bible, Proverbs 14:29]
Patience is humility in the dimension of time.
Real
True Narratives
Visual representations:
Technical and Analytical Readings
- The Dalai Lama, Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective (Snow Lion Publications, 1997).
- M.J. Ryan, The Power of Patience: How to Slow the Rush, and Enjoy More Happiness, Success, and Peace of Mind Every Day (Crown Archetype, 2003).
- Paul Roberts, The Impulse Society: America in the Age of Instant Gratification (Bloomsbury, 2014): “Paul Roberts thinks a society that wants it now is untenable, and he has written a prophecy to tell us why.”
Imaginary
Visual Arts
- Balthus, Patience (1955)
- Georges Braque, La Patience (The Patience) (1942)
Music: songs and other short pieces
- The Supremes, “You Can’t Hurry Love”
- Nawang Khechog, “The Power of Morality and Patience”
Film and Stage
- Sense and Sensibility: if we can accept the premise of Victorian sensibilities about pre-marital commitment [they had mastered (perpetually?) delayed gratification], this story contains a tear-jerking vision of patience, a feminine version of the denouement in Brahms’ Symphony No. 1.
- The Patience Stone: a Afghani woman tends in virtual solitude to her wounded and comatose husband
- Whisky Galore! (Tight Little Island), a droll treatment of delayed gratification
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Compositions:
- Malcolm Arnold, Symphony No. 8, Op. 124 (1978) (approx. 26-27’): “Not too long after finishing this symphony, Arnold took a seven-year hiatus from composing, as he was hospitalised and treated for severe depression. It is said that the Eighth Symphony reflects how Arnold might have been feeling at the time of composition.”
- Mariella Cassar-Cordina, Waiting (approx. 7')
Albums:
- Megumi Yonezawa, Masa Kamaguchi & Ken Kobayashi, “Boundary” (2018) (67’): “Throughout the recording, the group operates with exquisite patience, pushing the music forward with tender consideration, primarily driven by Yonezawa’s unsentimental lyricism and effective use of space . . .”
- Enrico Pieranunzi & Jasper Somsen, “Voyage in Time” (2022) (39’): in an interview about the album, Pieranunzi focused on the common ground between classical and jazz but his and Somsen’s easy-going, gentle playing conveys their patient approach to the collaboration.