“Patience is a virtue” is a frequently used saying. In many cultures and society, patience is considered an important principal of good manners and social customs. However there are many circumstances where immediate action is required and patience can be a detriment.
Another expression about patience goes, “Good things come to those who wait.” The philosophy behind this is that if you are patient and wait to assess the situation before you act, you will be rewarded. There are many instances where this principle does not apply. Take people who invest in business for example. When Facebook was first started, it was seen as an underdog compared to the other internet networking giants like Yahoo. When the company started up, many people did not invest because they wanted to wait and see how the company got along. There were a few people that did not wait, and now they are worth billions of dollars. Sometimes while waiting for the opportune moment, you miss the biggest opportunities. In the case of business ventures, good things come to those who act.
Politics and international relations is another area that most people say require patience. However there are several instances in history that prove a patient country sometimes regrets waiting. During the 1930s, for example, Hitler became increasingly aggressive towards Germany’s neighboring countries. All of Europe and even the League of Nations were reluctant to act, thinking that if they waited and appeased Hitler, then Hitler would eventually stop. retrospect, everybody agrees that rather than patiently appeasing Hitler, countries should have acted. World War II would have been very different if countries had taken immediate action.
There are instances in international relations when quick actions have resulted in disastrous results. Take for example the U.S. War in Iraq. The U.S. Government at the outset of this war regarded this as a “pre-emptive strike” against Iraq and its Weapons of Mass Destruction program. The reasoning behind this was that if the U.S. waited to see if Iraq was actually developing these programs, than the consequence would be Iraq attacking the U.S. So the U.S. and its allies went to war in Iraq and they did not find any weapons. Their hasty actions resulted in the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians and a long drawn out war. Sometimes being patient is a good thing when it comes to military actions.
Although there are many instances when patience is necessary, there are many occasions when immediate action is required.
