In Germany, young players are given more time, more patience. In

Hear, O seekers of wisdom, the words of Jerome Boateng, who declared: “In Germany, young players are given more time, more patience. In England, they prefer to buy already high-level players rather than spending some time building up a really talented young guy.” This is not only a reflection on football but a parable for all of life. It speaks of the two paths by which greatness is sought: one of cultivation, steady and faithful, and the other of acquisition, swift and ready-made. Boateng’s words remind us that while it is easier to purchase greatness, true power lies in nurturing it from within.

The origin of this wisdom is found in the very traditions of sport. In Germany, the academies are gardens where the seeds of talent are sown early. Young players are allowed to stumble, to make mistakes, to grow at their own pace until they stand firm like oaks. The culture itself values patience, knowing that enduring strength requires time. In England, by contrast, there has often been a hunger for immediacy, a desire for victories today, even if it means buying them from afar. This is not condemnation but observation: two philosophies in tension, one that invests in the future, and one that secures the present.

Consider, O listeners, the story of Thomas Müller, who rose from the youth system at Bayern Munich. He was not purchased as a finished jewel but nurtured from boyhood. With time and patience, he became a world champion, embodying the trust his nation placed in its young. Contrast this with clubs that spend fortunes on foreign stars, dazzling but already formed, leaving little room for their own youth to rise. Boateng’s words reveal the cost of impatience: the silencing of hidden brilliance that might have bloomed with time.

The ancients, too, knew this truth. Did not the farmer sow seed and wait patiently through the seasons, knowing that fruit requires sun, rain, and time? Did not the blacksmith temper the blade in fire and water again and again before it became strong? In every craft, in every discipline, greatness is forged slowly. To demand instant perfection is to destroy the possibility of true mastery. Thus, the lesson of patience in football becomes the lesson of patience in life.

Yet let us also see the temptation of the quicker path. To buy what is already polished, to acquire what is already strong, seems wise in the short term. It satisfies the hunger for glory today. But this path, if taken too often, weakens the roots of a culture, for it ceases to trust its own soil. A nation, a club, or even a person who always seeks ready-made greatness risks forgetting how to cultivate greatness from within.

The lesson, then, is clear: invest in the young, invest in the untested, invest in the uncertain but promising. Whether in football, in families, in communities, or in ourselves, give room for growth. Do not despise the awkward beginnings of the learner. For within them lies a strength greater than any purchased success—the strength of resilience, of identity, of trust. Nurture the youth, and the future is secure. Neglect them, and the future will be borrowed but never owned.

Practical actions flow from this truth: be patient with your children, your students, your apprentices. Encourage them even when their steps are clumsy. Support your local youth in sport, in art, in learning, rather than always exalting the distant star. In your own life, when you begin anew, grant yourself the same patience: do not demand perfection at the start, but trust the process of growth. Let patience be your companion, for it is the soil in which greatness takes root.

Thus do we honor the words of Jerome Boateng: that patience builds greatness, that nurturing the young is wiser than chasing only what shines today. Carry this teaching, O children of tomorrow, and remember: victories won with patience endure for generations, but victories bought without cultivation fade like shadows at dusk.