Solitude Is Useless If We Do Not Change

Sometimes, when we have been overcome by pride or impatience and want to improve our rough and surly ways, we complain that we need solitude, as though we would find the virtue of patience there, where nobody provokes us. We make excuses for our carelessness and say that the cause of our disturbance lies not in our own impatience but in the fault of our brothers. And as long as we lay the blame for our fault on others, we will never be able to reach the goal of patience and perfection.