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March 03, 2006
OFF LEASH: On patience
"Off Leash" is an occasional column by Fiddler. Past columns can be found here.
Patience, according to Cato the Elder, is the greatest of all virtues. If we are to take him seriously -- and with a name like "Cato the Elder" we probably have to -- then patience trumps kindness, loyalty, goodness, courage, even love. It is to be desired and admired above all other traits.
This gives me pause. My own ability to delay gratification is, to put it mildly, underdeveloped. When I am hungry, I am hungry right now. When I am ready to go for a walk, I want to go not in ten minutes, not in five minutes, but this very moment. If I get the urge to run around like a crazy dog, I do not hesitate to act on that urge. I do not put it off until tomorrow. Rather, I immediately begin running around like a crazy dog.
What I see as an eagerness to embrace life, Cato the Elder might deem a dearth of patience. Then again, it's easy to be patient when you're dead.
Posted by teb at March 3, 2006 11:08 AM