Patience is an active virtue; one of doing productive things rather than simply waiting. Not throwing temper tantrums only demonstrates that one is not impatient, but to be truly patient one must know that some things take effort over time- and be continually willing to make that effort. Like all Aims of Areté, patience is guided by our ability to reason- there may be things which need to be done immediately or terrible consequences will follow. In these circumstances waiting is, of course, to be avoided, but the definition of patience still applies: to know that effort will be needed within a particular period of time (even if that period is quite short) and be willing to make that effort instead of letting the period pass. When we are patient we make better use of the most slippery resource available to humans: time. Fidgeting, boredom, and being upset are wastes of time; working towards our goal, a productive use of time. Heroes patiently seek out their glorious destinies.
Patience