“Impatience,” Voltaire wrote, “is the mark of independence, not bondage.” Impatience stirs the soul to action. It looks at life with an agitated glance and wants to make it better. It is the first step toward independence of soul. It’s the impatience that betrays us. We begin to show the underside of our hearts: what we really think, what we really want, what we really intend to do.
