Do Good Things Come to Those Who Wait?

By Linda Fisher Thornton

I don’t particularly like the quote “Good things come to those who wait.” This quote, attributed to British author Violet Fane (Mary M. Singleton) in 1892, may be true but it leaves out important parts of the story. Good things may come to those who wait, but only after certain important conditions have been met:

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (If They Also….)

Work hard
Use what they are learning to help others
Keep working hard
Improve but still keep learning
Keep using what they learn in service to others
Don’t give up, even when progress is slow and success is uncertain
….and so on (perpetually repeating numbers 1-6 above)

Doing these things keeps people in a service mindset, making it easier to wait for good things to happen. And, of course, while they are working diligently, they are not just waiting. Without the rest of the context, the quote seems to imply that just “waiting” is enough.

What are your thoughts about the context of this quote? What other well-known quotes might be missing an important part of the story?