Patience
from Zorba the Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis-
"I remembered one morning when I discovered a cocoon in a bark of a tree,
just as a butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out.
I waited awhile, but it was too long appearing and I was impatient.
I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly
as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life.
just as a butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out.
I waited awhile, but it was too long appearing and I was impatient.
I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly
as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life.
The case opened, the butterfly started slowly crawling out and I shall never
forget my horrorwhen I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled;
the wretched butterfly tried with itswhole trembling body to unfold them.
Bending over it I tried to help it with my breath, In vain.It needed to be hatched
out patiently and the unfolding of its wings should be a gradual process in the sun.
Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all crumpled,
before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm
forget my horrorwhen I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled;
the wretched butterfly tried with itswhole trembling body to unfold them.
Bending over it I tried to help it with my breath, In vain.It needed to be hatched
out patiently and the unfolding of its wings should be a gradual process in the sun.
Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all crumpled,
before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm
of my hand. The little body is, I do believe, the greatest weight I have on my conscience,
for I realizetoday that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature.
We should not hurry, weshould not be impatient, but we should confidently
obey the eternal rhythm."
for I realizetoday that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature.
We should not hurry, weshould not be impatient, but we should confidently
obey the eternal rhythm."
"Improving our own attitudes and our own state of mind takes time.
Haste and impatience can only defeat our purposes."
“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness;
it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.”
By Gertrude Jekyll
“Alcohol gives you infinite patience for stupidity.”
BY Sammy Davis, Jr.
By Gertrude Jekyll
“Alcohol gives you infinite patience for stupidity.”
BY Sammy Davis, Jr.
“Beware of him that is slow to anger; for when it is long coming,
it is the stronger when it comes, and the longer kept. Abused patience turns to fury.”
By Francis Quarles
By Francis Quarles
Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become
anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear,
discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness and a
rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.
By Brian Adams
A man who is a master of patience is master of everything else.
George Savile
A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation.
Moliere
Moliere
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Deliberately seek opportunities for kindness, sympathy, and patience.
Evelyn Underhill
Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John Ruskin
Endurance is patience concentrated.
Thomas Carlyle
Evelyn Underhill
Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John Ruskin
Endurance is patience concentrated.
Thomas Carlyle
Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.
Carl Jung
Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.
May Sarton
For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice - no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service.
John Burroughs
Gardeners are good at nurturing, and they have a great quality of patience, they're tender.
John Burroughs
Gardeners are good at nurturing, and they have a great quality of patience, they're tender.
They have to be persistent.
Ralph Fiennes
Genius is eternal patience.
Ralph Fiennes
Genius is eternal patience.
Michelangelo
Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace.
Victor Hugo
Have patience with all things, But, first of all with yourself.
Saint Francis de Sales
Victor Hugo
Have patience with all things, But, first of all with yourself.
Saint Francis de Sales
A little more patience, a little more charity for all, a little more devotion,
a little more love; with less bowing down to the past, and a silent ignoring
of pretended authority; brave looking forward to the future with more faith in
our fellows, and the race will be ripe for a great burst of light and life.
--Elbert Hubbard
