One of the most difficult virtues to master is that of patience; and yet, patience is a trait that can only serve to benefit you greatly over time. In a world of fast food, quick fashion, and instant satisfaction, the practice of delayed gratification has never been more difficult – or more important! In an impatient world the patient individual finds themself at a supreme advantage. The ability to wait will help you with relationships, professional endeavors, and making sound financial decisions. Here are 25 of our favorite quotes about patience to help you take a deep breath and avoid hasty decisions:
1) “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” – John Quincy Adams
2) “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy
3) “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” – Aristotle
4) “He that can have patience can have what he will.” – Benjamin Franklin
5) “Let us not forget that haste and impatience are enemies of spiritual life. God is love, and he who loves does not tire, he is not irritable, he does not give ultimatums; God is patient, God knows how to wait.” – Pope Francis
6) “To lose patience is to lose the battle.” – Mahatma Ghandi
7) “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.” – President Abraham Lincoln
8) “I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” – Lao Tzu
9) “Be patient and understanding. Life is too short to be vengeful or malicious.” – Phillips Brooks
10) “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient qualms a quarrel.” – Proverbs 15:18
11) “It is very strange…that the years teach us patience; that the shorter our time, the greater our capacity for waiting.” – Elizabeth Taylor
12) “Patience in investing is like planting seeds – you must nurture them over time for a bountiful harvest.” – Warren Buffet
In 1970, Stanford researchers published an experiment called “The Marshmallow Experiment” that was meant to measure self-control and patience in children and how those quality might affect the outcomes for those children later in life. In the experiment, children were presented with a marshmallow and told they could either eat it now or they could wait a set amount of time and have two later. The researchers then recorded the children’s decisions and followed them over the course of their lives to see how they performed across a number of areas. It turns out, the children who were able to delay gratification also ended up having greater academic, personal, and professional success later in life. It goes to show how powerful a trait patience can be!
13) “The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” – Arnold H. Glasow
14) “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
15) “Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown.” – Soren Kierkegaard
16) “It takes remarkable patience to hold on to a stock in a company that excites you, but which everybody else seems to ignore. You begin to think everybody else is right and you are wrong.” – Peter Lynch
17) “Patience is a key element to success.” – Bill Gates
18) “Tolerance and patience should not be read as signs of weakness, they are signs of strength.” – Dalai Lama
19) “Learning patience can be a difficult experience, but once conquered you will find life is easier.” – Catherine Pulsifer
20) “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4
21) “Some people can never understand that you have to wait, even for the best of things, until the right time comes.” – President Franklin D. Roosevelt
22) “The older I get, the more I value my ability to be patient.” – Clint Eastwood
23) “Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement, and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.” – Brian Adams
24) “You can’t have genius without patience.” – Margaret Deland
25) “Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold.” – Leonardo da Vinci
There are few traits that you could develop within yourself that will prove more useful that developing patience. Patience is difficult, but it sure does pay off in time. Whether or not you are trying to build a business over time, hit the gym and build your dream body, not pull out stocks during a bear market, or just waiting for the right time to ask out that special someone – patience is your friend. Hopefully some of these incredibly and inspiring quotes about patience will encourage you to hold your hand and make rational and beneficial decisions for yourself and those you care about in the future!