He that can have patience can have what he will.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
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
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
Time deals gently only with those who take it gently.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
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
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning.
—Ivy Baker Priest (1905–75) American Politician
Your three best doctors are faith, time, and patience.
—Unknown
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
—Chinese Proverb
The race is not [always] to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
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
The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.
—Japanese Proverb
All things come round to him who will but wait.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.
—Bernard Williams (1929–2003) English Philosopher
He that can’t endure the bad will not live to see the good.
—Yiddish Proverb
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
Time, in the turning-over of days, works change for better or worse.
—Pindar (c.518–c.438 BCE) Greek Lyric Poet
Who longest waits most surely wins.
—Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–85) American Novelist, Civil Rights Activist
Perhaps one day this too will be pleasant to remember.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
Patience is a bitter plant, but it has sweet fruit.
—German Proverb
The secret of patience… to do something else in the meantime.
—Unknown
One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
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
Wisely and slow;—they stumble that run fast.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Time bears away all things, even the mind.
—Virgil (70–19 BCE) Roman Poet
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
Fall seven times and stand up eight.
—Japanese Proverb
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
Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
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
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
Sadness flies away on the wings of time.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
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
Serene I fold my hands and wait.
—John Burroughs (1837–1921) American Naturalist, Writer
Our toil is sweet with thankfulness, Our burden is our boon; The curse of earth’s gray morning is The blessing of its noon.
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92) American Quaker Poet, Abolitionist
Come what may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Genius is eternal patience.
—Michelangelo (1475–1564) Italian Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Poet, Engineer
The crisis of yesterday is the joke of tomorrow.
—H. G. Wells (1866–1946) English Novelist, Historian, Social Thinker
It is said an eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him with the words, ‘And this, too, shall pass away.’ How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Patience and fortitude conquer all things.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Time brings all things to pass.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Playwright
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
How poor are they that have not patience? What wound did ever heal but by degrees?
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Young people, especially, are looking for religion so desperately that they are inventing new ones. They should not have to invent new ones; the old religions are pretty good.
—Irving Kristol (1920–2009) American Political Writer, Publisher
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