Serene I fold my hands and wait.
—John Burroughs (1837–1921) American Naturalist, Writer
Come what may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
He that can’t endure the bad will not live to see the good.
—Yiddish Proverb
Time is like a river of fleeting events, and its current is strong; as soon as something comes into sight, it is swept past us, and something else takes its place, and that too will be swept away.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
Experience has taught me this, that we undo ourselves by impatience. Misfortunes have their life and their limits, their sickness and their health.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Who longest waits most surely wins.
—Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–85) American Novelist, Civil Rights Activist
Patience and fortitude conquer all things.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Patience is a bitter plant, but it has sweet fruit.
—German Proverb
Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.
—Bernard Williams (1929–2003) English Philosopher
The race is not [always] to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours.
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955) German Novelist, Short Story Writer, Social Critic, Philanthropist, Essayist
The crisis of yesterday is the joke of tomorrow.
—H. G. Wells (1866–1946) English Novelist, Historian, Social Thinker
Time bears away all things, even the mind.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
And he shall reign a goodly king And sway his hand o’er every clime With peace writ on his signet ring, Who bides his time.
—James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Writer
The leaders I met, whatever walk of life they were from, whatever institutions they were presiding over, always referred back to the same failure – something that happened to them that was personally difficult, even traumatic, something that made them feel that desperate sense of hitting bottom—as something they thought was almost a necessity. It’s as if at that moment the iron entered their soul; that moment created the resilience that leaders need.
—Warren Bennis (1925–2014) American Business Academic, Author
Sadness flies away on the wings of time.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
That’s the advantage of having lived 65 years. You don’t feel the need to be impatient any longer.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
Wisely and slow;—they stumble that run fast.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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.
—Francis de Sales (1567–1622) French Catholic Saint
He that can have patience can have what he will.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate,
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.
—T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) American-born British Poet, Dramatist, Literary Critic
Were it possible for us to see further than our knowledge reaches, perhaps we would endure our sadnesses with greater confidence than our joys. For they are moments when something new has entered into us, something unknown.
—Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) Austrian Poet
Sometimes I found that in my happy moments I could not believe that I had ever been miserable.
—Marion Milner (‘Joanna Field’) (1900–98) British Writer, Psychoanalyst
One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.
—J. K. Rowling (b.1965) English Novelist
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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