Not long the space between January's snowdrifts and June's red berries.

Brief the interval between the egg and the eagle's full flight.

Scarcely a score of years separates the infant of days from the youth of full stature.

Trained to expect the April seed to stand close beside the August sheaf, it is not easy for man to accustom himself to the processes of him with whom four-score years are but a handbreadth and a thousand years as but one day.
To man, therefore, toiling upon his industry, his art, his government, his religion, comes this reflection: Because the divine epochs are long, let not the patriot or parent be sick with hope long deferred.
Let the reformer sow his seed untroubled when the sickle rusts in the hand that waits for its harvest.

Remember that as things go up in value, the period between inception and fruition is protracted.
Because the plant is low, the days between seed and sheaf are few and short; because the bird is higher, months stand between egg and eagle.
But manhood is a thing so high, culture and character are harvests so rich as to ask years and even ages for ripening, while God's purposes for society involve such treasures of art, wisdom, wealth, law, liberty, as to ask eons and cycles for their full perfection.
Therefore let each patriot and sage, each reformer and teacher be patient.