09/21/2026
Patience is the father of all good character...
Anger feels like power in the moment. It gets attention, and it feels like you're doing something. But Ifa says it adds up to nothing.
Here is the verse, from Ogbe-'Yonu (Ogbe-Ogunda):
Anger amounts to nothing for one
Patience is the father of all good character
The elder who has patience
Will live longer and enjoy old age
And enjoy the world of Ifa
Like the licking of pure honey
This was the declaration of Ifa for Ori-Inu (character)
And also for Ita (destiny)
My character, I beg you
Please do not spoil my destiny.
Look at the last few lines of the verse. Character and destiny are spoken to together, as if they were two people. The plea is "My character, please don't spoil my destiny." Your destiny can be good and your temper can still cost you all of it.
Also in Ogbe-'Yonu a story of four snakes: Oka the cobra, Ere the boa constrictor, Sebe the black poisonous snake, and Nini, the beautiful snake and the youngest of them all. They were competing for a title in the household of Oniyanja, and all four were told to offer ebo. Only Nini did. Nini was made king. The verse says plainly that it was the bad behavior of the other three that ruined their careers.
The three older snakes had the same chance as Nini. What they lacked was the patience to take advice and the humility to do the work. Excessive anger, the verse observes, shows what kind of upbringing someone had.
The same Odu we can learn about when Orunmila was going to marry Iya, suffering, the daughter of Oniwoo. He was advised to offer ebo, he did, and his suffering was rewarded with a beautiful wife. Patience doesn't mean nothing is happening. It means you're still standing when the reward arrives.
Where has your temper cost you something your patience could have won?
