And so does self-respect: for as
men respect themselves, so will they usually respect the
personality of others.
It is the same in politics as in business. Success in that sphere
of life is achieved less by talent than by temper, less by genius
than by character. If a man have not self-control, he will lack
patience, be wanting in tact, and have neither the power of
governing himself nor of managing others. When the quality most
needed in a Prime Minister was the subject of conversation in the
presence of Mr. Pitt, one of the speakers said it was "Eloquence;"
another said it was "Knowledge;" and a third said it was "Toil,"
"No," said Pitt, "it is Patience!" And patience means self-
control, a quality in which he himself was superb. His friend
George Rose has said of him that he never once saw Pitt out of
temper. (3) Yet, although patience is usually regarded as a
"slow" virtue, Pitt combined with it the most extraordinary
readiness, vigour, and rapidity of thought as well as action.
It is by patience and self-control that the truly heroic character
is perfected. These were among the most prominent characteristics
of the great Hampden, whose noble qualities were generously
acknowledged even by his political enemies. Thus Clarendon
described him as a man of rare temper and modesty, naturally
cheerful and vivacious, and above all, of a flowing courtesy.
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