Patience is a virtue
Meaning: The ability to wait calmly is a valuable quality.
Origin: The Distichs of Cato, a Latin schoolbook used throughout the Middle Ages, has maxima enim patientia virtus — patience is the greatest virtue. Chaucer's The Franklin's Tale says "Patience is an high virtue," and Langland's Piers Plowman uses a similar line.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: La patience est une vertu (literally: Patience is a virtue)
- Spanish: La paciencia es una virtud (literally: Patience is a virtue)
- Japanese: 忍耐は美徳 (Nintai wa bitoku) (literally: Patience is a virtue)
- German: Geduld bringt Rosen (literally: Patience brings roses)
More proverbs about Perseverance
- A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor — Hardship and challenges are what build true expertise and resilience.
- Dripping water hollows out stone — Persistent small efforts accomplish what force alone cannot.
- The ox is slow, but the earth is patient — Steady, unhurried work in harmony with natural rhythms eventually yields abundance.
- The cat that always cries catches no mice — Complaining and making noise accomplishes nothing; quiet, focused effort gets results.
- The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones — Great accomplishments are only possible through gradual, persistent small efforts.
- It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop — Progress at any pace is still progress; what matters is persisting, not speed.
From our tongue twisters
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. — A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.
- Бабин біб розцвів у дощ, буде бабі біб у борщ. (Babyn bib roztsviv u doshch, bude babi bib u borshch.) — A bilabial 'b / bib / bor' drill that ends in a very Slavic splash of borscht.
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…