Why Patience is Nature’s Pace

Photo by v2osk on Unsplash

Emerson has a quote that is just beautiful. He said:

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Of course, we all know the Stoic doctrine of “live according to Nature”. Part of what that means is “live according to Mother Nature”. Emerson encourages us to consider that Mother Nature’s pace is actually one of patience. And if you think about that naturalistically, it makes a lot of sense. If you think about our evolutionary history, all the way back to when we were single-celled organisms, it’s been a really, really long time!

Evolution itself we measure in the magnitude of thousands or even millions of years. It’s a slow, patient process. That is Nature’s pace. Consider the time that it has taken for you to become who you are right now. Not just in your life but all of your ancestors, both human and non-human. It’s been a very, very long time. You are of nature. In some ways, perhaps human beings are the Masterpiece of evolution (so far anyway). We have the most highly developed mind — that’s that Divine mind that the Stoics talked about. Being impatient is simply not living in accordance with nature because nature… her secret is patience.

Thanks for reading. If you’re interested in learning more, listen to similar reflections on The Strong Stoic Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.