Introduction

Abstract This chapter introduces the collection of essays in the volume The Virtue of Patience and provides an overview of recent research on patience. Patience is an important—often foundational—virtue in many cultural, ethical, and faith traditions. This introduction highlights some central questions and challenges in the study of the virtue of patience. These include: defining patience, especially given the varying terms and meanings of “patience” in different languages and traditions; addressing skepticism about the status of patience as a virtue; adjudicating whether patience is a distinctively temporal virtue; defining the relationship between patience and self-control; and describing how patience is developed and enacted in personal and interpersonal contexts. This introduction also provides brief overviews of each chapter and highlights how specific chapters address the different questions and challenges.