From the book
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Joseph Joubert · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Patience
patience
Patience covers waiting, sustained study and bearing with others.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPatience covers waiting, sustained study and bearing with others.
- In JoubertThe account of taking turns in speech contrasts patient listening with snatching the floor.
- In this editionThe English translation uses composure for sangfroid in the study passage, without equating it with artistic indifference.
- A place to beginWaiting lets another’s discourse reach its end.
- English renderings
- patience; patiently
Meaning
Patience covers waiting, sustained study and bearing with others. It is an active condition of attention as well as endurance.
Use in the book
The account of taking turns in speech contrasts patient listening with snatching the floor. The artistic-study passage makes patience in learning procedures and the craft’s language evidence of composure; joined to an adequate idea of the aim, it enables excellent criticism. The attributed Marcus Aurelius comparison then makes patience part of justice. In each case patience serves something beyond merely letting time pass: another’s completed speech, learned skill or fair treatment.
Places to read
- I, p. 71, entry 5, ¶2Waiting lets another’s discourse reach its end.
- II, p. 643, entry 3, ¶1Patient study demonstrates the composure needed for criticism.
- II, p. 675, entry 8, ¶1Patience is included within justice through an attribution.
Translation in this edition
The English translation uses composure for sangfroid in the study passage, without equating it with artistic indifference. It retains the distinction between Joubert’s indulgence and the attributed patience, and leaves the damaged preceding article unfilled in the French.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, I, pp. 71; II, pp. 643, 675.
From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Patience
patience; patient endurance; constancy
Patience is the capacity to bear difficulty, deprivation, or delay without abandoning the good.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPatience is the capacity to bear difficulty, deprivation, or delay without abandoning the good.
- In TraherneThe Cross offers patience together with courage and zeal, binding endurance to love’s work.
- In this editionPatience belongs beside courage, not in opposition to it.
- A place to beginPatience is among the active and enduring virtues learned from the crucified Christ.
Meaning
Patience is the capacity to bear difficulty, deprivation, or delay without abandoning the good. It is an active durability rather than simple inertia.
Use in the book
The Cross offers patience together with courage and zeal, binding endurance to love’s work. Its purpose is not to glorify helplessness but to teach a fidelity able to persist when immediate circumstances oppose it.
IV.89 considers the lack of external goods. Where a person cannot give materially, patience, faith, and courage can themselves become more valuable ornaments than money. The principle reassesses what remains possible under deprivation; it does not make generous action worthless when means are present. Traherne’s larger demand is that one virtue be prized above stored wealth, because the formed soul can answer circumstances in ways possessions alone cannot secure.
Places to read
In this edition
Patience belongs beside courage, not in opposition to it. The valuation of inward virtue addresses limited means without denying the worth of beneficence.