is patience a virtue or an excuse?
Topic started by preethi (@ curtin-gw.zapsurf.com.sg) on Sun Jul 7 00:16:53 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.
many of us , at times choose to be patient, deeming it a virtue! but at certain times ,it is to our covinience that we are virtuos! it maybe imply a lack of initiative. please send in your comments.
Responses:
- From: Saketh@Atlanta (@ ligali20.library.gatech.edu)
on: Tue Jul 16 11:59:52
Interesting topic.
Patience is a difficult habit. Esp. when the competition is cut throat and you are fighting with jackals. According to the Gita, we have to fight for dharma even if it means we will do adharma. Then again, Gandhi almost argues that non-violence at all cost is the best way to go. That is very very difficult. If you can express your opinion (express your anger) without feeling the reaction of it, then go ahead. Unfortunately, such an expression always leaves a bad taste after the incident. Be polite but firm. The example of a lotus leaf in water is the example given in the Gita. You are in water but you are not wet! Think how cool Krsna was in tricking the Kauravas or in any of his acts where he taught the bad chaps a lesson - he never felt strongly about the whole thing, he executed what he felt was right clinically.
All IMHO.
- From: balaji (@ 61.1.203.126)
on: Tue Jul 16 13:33:18
Patience and politeness is not one persons weakness it is a reflection of one persons inner strength... Mahatma Gandhi
I think this will answer all your queries
any body interested in having a good friendship
mail me at balaji_shr@yahoo.co.in
- From: Sweetlankie (@ hse-kingston-ppp193942.sympatico.ca)
on: Tue Jul 16 19:22:20
Certainly we are living in a time where speed is of the essence.
Patience may be a virtue, but having it can be hazardous to your career or other situation. Lets say, you see someone harm someone else. In that situation you shouldn't sit silently, because if you sit silently you maybe the next victim.
- From: BiddyBoy (@ cha213245076202.chello.fr)
on: Wed Jul 17 18:01:14
This depends on people and not in situation. For an active person being patient is a virtue. For a passive person being patient is an excuse.
- From: emjay (@ dialup-64.154.144.114.dial1.austin1.level3.net)
on: Thu Jul 18 11:24:12
The saying goes that patience is simply the art of concealing one's impatience. Some even think that patience is just an excuse for laziness. I think patience is an indirect form of contentment.
- From: preethi (@ star-gw.zapsurf.com.sg)
on: Fri Jul 19 00:23:35
what i mean is, we put off something we really need to do and pacify ourselves calling that patience and a virtue at that! i believe at times ,it just helps in our own incapacity to do things!
- From: Zaki (@ 196.41.38.35)
on: Fri Aug 30 10:12:53
It all depends on whether you have the ability to do it. If you can, then do it; if you can't then wait for someone to do it for you!
Play your part and let the other part be done by the competent person. It takes two to create anything. so you can see that patience is indeed not only a virtue but a necessity of life.
- From: Rudy Lim (@ outgw.mckenzie.com.hk)
on: Mon Oct 7 23:08:05
The next issue would be when do we know we should be patient (so that we aren't being patient in a situation where we should do otherwise).
- From: outsider (@ 202.125.140.162)
on: Sun Oct 20 11:38:23
Patience is virtue for some, complimentary for others. (For the weak, the poor, the down-trodden).
- From: stg (@ 12.151.162.24)
on: Tue Oct 22 05:17:52
It both, depending on the context.
- From: :) Punnahai (@ d150-35-51.home.cgocable.net)
on: Wed Oct 23 10:43:25
>>The next issue would be when do we know we should be patient <<
Knowing when to be patient and when to act makes the difference between success and failure.
- From: Venkatesh (@ 211.132.104.25)
on: Mon Oct 28 09:43:54
Hi,
Patience...mmm, i donno in what sense most of the people take it. But when people refer patience as a virtue, they never mean inactivity or postponement of duties. Patience shd never be applied to physical action or inaction. The word talks about mind or psyche. Taking decisions while the mind is in a clear state is patience. Certainly it is not about not taking decisions.
While one is under the spell of emotions, it may be anger, anxiety, love, ..., he/she cannot think prudently and take a decision. And a decision taken at that state will lead a disaster. Thats the reason patience is a virtue.
Now coming to Preethi's perspective, yes some people do try to rationlise their inaction, indecisions, or laziness by trying to say that they are patient. That way , if a person decides to rationalise his deeds, he can use anything to do so. Rationalising is a form of hypocrisy. Thats it.
- From: Haydar (@ cache-dc02.proxy.aol.com)
on: Mon Mar 31 20:31:12
I agree with several of the opinions mentioned here: a)(slightly reformulated) One should know when to act and when to 'let be' 'stand by' or 'give space' b)that patience is not so much a physical behavior (or lack of it) but rather a mentality, a universal frame-of-mind and c) that patience should not be confused with inactivity, indeciciveness or idleness. 4 ex. a couple taking their time in building a loving, healthy relationship rather than cheapening it with constant sexual gratification and forming a dependency are actors constantly labouring towards a common aim patiently, patience regulates and gives form to the existential content of our everydayness.
Patience is a virtue because, when an individual incorporates patience into their life practice--they are transcending their dependency upon causality in nature....rather than be determined by forces in nature (social, political, economic) one actively reflects on actions--both prior and subsequent.
- From: Anusha (@ 61.0.36.241)
on: Mon May 26 13:06:36 EDT 2003
Patience, according to me , is a virtue. It is simply the ability to wait for things to happen at their own pace.
Truly, it is difficult to decide what is that pace...seems like an elusive answer. But perhaps it is the ability to wait for the results after you've given your best.
When people sit back and shirk for their duties, it can't be called patience. They are simply escaping from the problem at hand which is not right.
It would be wrong to call such a quality, patience.
- From: Rakesh (@ 213.42.2.6)
on: Wed Jun 4 11:07:11 EDT 2003
ha ha ha..... no one really understans patience. maybe this can help. "never put off till tomorrow, what U CAN PUT OFF TODAY ". ha ha. lemme tell u, i followed the philosophy throughout my 11th and 12th standard... and I feel jus gr8. but i dont know if this will work 4 the modern man.
- From: Rakesh (@ 213.42.2.14)
on: Wed Jul 9 07:46:36 EDT 2003
Hey the literature section is getting stagnated........ some one do some thing
- From: totally agree (@ b0gz566uy58si.bc.hsia.telus.net)
on: Thu Aug 28 20:53:41 EDT 2003
totally agree with the above
- From: silvia (@ dom3-146.menta.net)
on: Sun Sep 14 08:33:52 EDT 2003
the patienty is the the mother of the science
- From: stg (@ 12.151.162.25)
on: Mon Sep 15 05:06:05 EDT 2003
depends on how patient you are. If its for a looooong time then its just an excuse or inertia or inability. If you follow valluvar "kokokka koom boom paruvathu..." then patience is a virtue. The point is you should not act in anger/frustration/desperation while you are wait.
- From: Marina (@ host217-161.mlsp.government.bg)
on: Tue Sep 16 09:01:43 EDT 2003
Patience is not an excuse but a clever way for getting what you want!It's an art and that's why not every person has this virtue - you have to train yourself to join this property to your character! Patience is a state of mind, a selfcontrol.Although I think that it can be an excuse for people who have used the their patience out of limit - every thing must have a frontier! Patience is whithin the borders of virtue and excuse and if you find its right place you can possess everything!!! What do you think?!
- From: Timurlane (@ te-497jha.student.iastate.edu)
on: Wed Sep 17 17:38:15 EDT 2003
Without energy there is no patience.
Without strength there is no generosity.
Without intellect there is no sturdiness.
Don't let the dull, the slow and the weak fool you about their weakness.
Patience can only be a virtue where there is something to oppose the tendency to wait. Where it is a result of the imposition of the will over the impulse.
Not simple a lack of impulse.
- From: Student (@ cpe-65-30-208-123.wi.rr.com)
on: Wed Oct 29 20:21:06
Patience is being able to widthstand or wait for something or someone that you wouldn't wait for ona regular basis. Patience is often used as a excuse and not as a virtue. St Augustine said that patience is the companion of wisdom.
- From: anthuvan (@ 202.9.177.119)
on: Wed Nov 19 11:33:24 EST 2003
Patience needs lots of courage...
Cowards are afraid to be patient..
- From: Latha (@ 12-223-161-213.client.insightbb.com)
on: Mon Apr 19 19:54:52
Patience aids a person to be on the right track but if we are just sitting tight we may be overrun
- From: concise (@ 199.164.56.5)
on: Tue Apr 27 16:58:33 EDT 2004
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
- From: Ash- (@ cache82.156ce.maxonline.com.sg)
on: Wed May 5 02:30:30 EDT 2004
pa·tience (from Dictionary.com)
Synonyms: patience, long-suffering, resignation, forbearance. These nouns denote the capacity to endure hardship, difficulty, or inconvenience without complaint. Patience emphasizes calmness, self-control, and the willingness or ability to tolerate delay.
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Patience, to me, is a state of disempowerment. I don't really believe that human beings actually enjoy the process of waiting (for Godot or anything, anyone) or even more apt, TOLERATING. We are obviously in some sort of pain from doing it and SM (Sado Masochism) is not genetically coded for everyone. =P It's the condition we render ourselves to when we are unable to disembark from it, reined in by people, or by circumstances. It's more like a defect deflected. Made to sound nice. Appease our little souls and give us a VALID excuse in our feeling miserable/ bad.
I guess it also promotes social cohesion (+ survival of the species) since some people have the tendency to make others wait. Those who killed their friends for causing them pain had, I guess, their gene line terminated. =D It's become a norm now. And hey, ironically? I have been called a Patient person. A virtue? Probably so. I suffer for others ... how is that not virtuous?
Any takers on this?
- From: Rakesh (@ 195.229.241.167)
on: Wed May 5 08:26:24 EDT 2004
Patients need some time, medicine and good care... ha ha ha
- From: quake (@ 202.68.154.144)
on: Thu May 6 19:45:26 EDT 2004
http://www.iomx.com
- From: sfsgfxvgfg (@ 213.42.2.27)
on: Sat May 8 14:17:01 EDT 2004
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- From: nirosha (@ j35.stw21.jaring.my)
on: Sat May 8 22:20:47 EDT 2004
Patience is a wait and see before we make our next move. Only the irrational would make sudden decisions without thought first. So, patience gives you that inate calm before the storm, if you like. Rash decisions would normally be regretted later.
Any kind of rumination where consequences are given due consideration is definite virtue. An example is speaking off the cuff when one may not be prepared to speak but compelled to do so under the circumstance.
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