“You’re dead right,” said Harriet, after a pause. “If one’s genuinely interested one knows how to be patient, and let time pass, as Queen Elizabeth said. Perhaps that’s the meaning of the phrase about genius being eternal patience, which I always thought rather absurd. If you truly want a thing, you don’t snatch; if you snatch, you don’t really want it. Do you suppose that, if you find yourself taking pains about a thing, it’s a proof of its importance to you?”
Two items in this paragraph. Be patient and let time pass. Queen Elizabeth I or II? I am assuming I but I don't know the context. Here it is. In 1580 Queen Elizabeth was in negotiations regarding her possible marriage. England was Church of England from her father's actions and there was strong interest on the continent to bring England back into the Roman fold, preferably by marriage rather than war. From a letter she wrote during these negotiations.
“You do not forget, mon tres cher, that the greatest cause of delay [in arranging a match] is due to this [agitation by English zealots against a Catholic marriage], that our people ought to congratulate and to applaud. To bring this about I have let time pass, which generally helps more than reasoning.”
"Genius is eternal patience" is a quote ascribed to Michelangelo.
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