The mother of patience

“. . . let us also observe that kindheartedness is the mother of patience and continually produces that fruit, and that if we are too stern, it is a sign that there is cruelty in us and that we are like wild beasts. . . It is true that we ought to be grieved at the faults of our neighbors, and we must not feed them by our flattery, as the common fashion of the world is. But yet our zeal must be so moderated that we forgive a great deal, for we ourselves also have need to be forgiven; we must not be more exorbitant with other people than we would they should be with us . . .” John Calvin