Patience, Its Limits, and How to Apply it

Abstract

My mom told me “patience is a virtue” in low moments growing up, so I questioned the legitimacy of her claim. I will argue that virtues are the capacity to excellently do an act and patience is the capacity to endure (by accepting, tolerating, or calmly waiting) through burdens (trouble, delay, and suffering) without negative emotions interfering with the end goal. Based on these definitions, I will argue that patience is always a virtue. My mom also told me to indulge in my curiosities and I was curious about Gregory the Great’s quote, “patience is the root and guardian of all the virtues”. Before answering this question, I will address two possible definitions for “root” and one definition “guardian”. Based on these definitions, I will compare patience to other virtues through examples to argue that Gregory the Great was correct in saying patience is the root and guardian of all the virtues. I will ultimately conclude by explaining what I have learned about patience to my mom and applying those to examples of her using them to express my gratitude for her excellently parenting me.