How often has one felt on looking back, ruefully perhaps, over a day that has seemed to bristle with small difficulties and petty disappointments, If only I had exercised more patience! As one by one the experiences of such a day are reviewed, it is often seen that the unkind criticism had been uncalled for, the quick frown unnecessary, the hasty retort futile. Nothing worth while was accomplished by that sudden outburst of irritability. The human clashes that seemed to call forth all this inharmony had not been lessened by one's attitude of resentment, but intensified—and maybe others had been hurt.
Webster's Dictionary says that patience implies the quietness or self-possession of one's own spirit under sufferings, provocations, and so forth. And in Proverbs we read, "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." So he that lacks self-control lacks also self-defense from the manifold errors of mortal mind which would presume to pull down the strongholds of peace, justice, and love.
Sharp words, unkind criticism, faultfinding, and irritability are the bitter, searing frosts of everyday human existence. They bruise the early fruits of affection, shrivel up human happiness, and nip in the bud myriads of tender little efforts towards a better understanding. They check and retard the natural growth of mutual trust and friendliness and are enemies to peace and harmony in every kind of human relationship.
