It sounds like patience is a bit like rain. When sprinkled on fire, it has the potential to quench flame.
It would be great if we all had our own little patient rain cloud we could call upon when times were tough. You could feel your heat index rising, your face flushing, rage building in your belly – but rather than set fire to the tinderbox of fury, you call in the cool patient rain and the cloud comes to hang over your head, raining down on you just when you need it most.
I would very much enjoy having my own personal rain cloud. If it rained water in addition to patience, I would use it on hot days when there feels to be no relief in sight – and when I’d come in wet, people would say, “Is it raining out?” And I’d be like, “Just a quick local downpour” and smile mysteriously.
The Hamlet Project 