“Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can, seldom in a woman, but never in a man.” This is largely a jab against men who, presumably, all suffer from being rash, precipitous and impulsive.

Julius Caesar might have agreed with this adage. He once stated that:

“It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than those who are willing to endure pain with patience.”

If patience is difficult, if not impossible, our high-tech society is trying to make it unnecessary. Fast food, instant photos, immediate seating, speed reading, rapid transit, instant coffee and fast-breaking news are various ways in which society is attempting to eradicate the need for patience. Yet patience remains a virtue and should be part of everyone’s moral arsenal. There will always be a need for patience. Therefore, we should learn to acquire it.

Patience is not weakness, as it is commonly believed to be. It is a species of the Cardinal Virtue of Fortitude. It takes a certain amount of inner strength in order to be patient. Without this strength, a person is prone to anger, anxiety or even flying off the handle.

Patience should be regarded as a most attractive virtue for it allows a person to remain self-possessed in the face of what Hamlet described as “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” In a less dramatic way, it allows a person to wait without fretting. Or, to state the matter more mildly, patience is the virtue or capacity to accept delays, difficulties, or sufferings without becoming annoyed or agitated.

An indication of the strength of patience lies in the fact that it can resist anger, maintain hope and use time profitably. Patience, perseverance, and perspiration form a trilogy that is a reliable formula for success. Thomas Edison famously said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

St. Paul exhorted the Thessalonians, who had suffered many trials and difficulties, to “direct your hearts into the love of God and into the Patience of Christ (2 Thessalonians 3)." Christ was rejected by the world, but remained serenely patient and never discouraged. Patience becomes not only possible, but eminently realizable when united to Christ.

Insurance companies sometimes beguile their clients by telling them that a policy will give them “peace of mind.” But patience, which is needed for “peace of mind,” is a virtue, not the consequence of owning an insurance policy. No matter how much insurance we have, the need for patience persists. Even dealing with insurance companies often requires no end of patience. When all is said and done, we are the only architects of our virtue. No one can be virtuous for us.

Job is the ultimate personification of patience. If he could maintain his patience despite the enormity of his sufferings, we can be patient in the relatively small things that afflict us. It was his faith, of course, that helped him to endure his suffering without losing his patience. Faith and Hope are the book ends of patience, one to lean on, the other to look forward to.

The cult of immediacy is the contemporary enemy of patience. “I can’t wait,” the cry of the impatient child, has carried over into the adult world. Yet the impatient person is ill prepared to succeed in the contemporary world. “How poor are they that have not patience!” wrote Shakespeare, “What wound did ever heal but by degree?” We must learn to wait and use our time for some enterprise other than the one we had planned.

Patience is indeed possible. But first we must slay a few demons and then latch on to a few virtues. The demons are laziness, a lack of imagination and a defeatist attitude. The virtues are faith, hope and the willingness to look for a blessing that arrives in disguise.