Precept & Practice – MARCH 30 – Patience

Every man, worthy of the name of man, should know how to possess his soul – bearing with patience those things which energy cannot change, and the evil of which impatience only increases.   This patient possession of one’s soul stretches far and wide;  it covers all the domain of social life all the tract of inter-relation with others.   It means patience with every kind of outside annoyance that cannot be removed by vigorous exertion.   It does not mean patience with removable nuisances, or curable evils, which want a big broom and a strong hand to make a clean sweep of them before the sun goes down.

But there are both nuisances and evils which cannot be swept away in this high-handed fashion, which can only be removed by patient endeavour and un-wearied repetition, and then the possession of the soul comes in as a faculty akin to the grand creative and transforming power of nature-working bit by bit, and inch by inch, silently, patiently, ‘without haste or rest.’

Mrs. Lynn Lynton

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From the Introduction to Precept and Practice

The kindly welcome given to my other little books, ‘Being and Doing’ and ‘Character and Conduct,’ must be my excuse for adding another collection of extracts to the number now in circulation.

The quotations are gathered from the books of many earnest thinkers, and deal with Life in all its length and breadth, with ourselves, our characters, our plain unvarnished faults and weaknesses, our often untoward circumstances, and with all that drags us down;-  with our purposes, our religion, our love and friendships, and with all that uplifts us;-  with our relation to others, our influence and responsibilities, and finally with those stages of our journey which bring us to the Road’s Last Turn and to the Silent Land.

CONSTANCE  M. WHISHAW