Patience and Civility

I think I've mentioned before that G.K. Chesterton is one of my favorite authors and that his Father Brown is one of my favorite fictional detectives. I like this quote from The Wisdom of Father Brown, and think we would all do well to imitate the little priest's response in the face of illness or exhaustion...

[Father Brown] had lately fallen ill with over-work...was still rather weak. He was [at the best of times] no very happy sailor. And though he was never of the sort that either grumbles or breaks down, his spirits did not rise above patience and civility.