The simple definition of NinTai is to persevere; however, the Japanese characters have a much greater meaning than this simple translation.
NinTai is an adherence to a course of action, belief, or purpose without giving way. Perseverance, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness and patience all define NinTai. Each of these conveys a sense of endurance in the pursuit of a desired end.
Perseverance suggests continuing strength or patience in dealing with something arduous. It particularly implies withstanding difficulty or resistance.
Persistence, usually but not always unfavorable, implies dogged resolve in dealing with others and hence often a willful insistence by holding firmly to a purpose or undertaking despite obstacles, warning or setbacks.

Tenacity means tough, aggressive persistence, and accents will power. Whereas perseverance and persistence largely apply to striving for a goal, tenacity basically denotes holding on to something.

Steadfastness is moral in connotation and implies unswerving adherence to principles, usually in the face of opposition.
Patience is the habit of enduring without complaint, becoming over anxious or looking for quick results. It is uncomplaining steadiness in accomplishing a task.

"what a river!" I said to my companion, thinking of all the way we had travelled from the source in the Black Forest"

The eeriness of this lonely island, set among a million willows, swept by a hurricane, and surrounded by hurrying deep waters, touched us both, I fancy. Untrodden by man, almost unknown to man, it lay there beneath the moon, remote from human influence, on the frontier of another world...













Will Munny: That's right. I'm just a fella now. I ain't no different than anyone else no more.

Quando estava a procurar mentalmente uma imagem da paciência, que desse bem com este calor, lembrei-me de um cowboy à torreira do sol no meio do continente americano, longe de tudo milhares de milhas. Esse cowboy era Clint Eastwood, reparei quando vi o seu rosto, e tinha uma cigarrilha meio fumada entre os dentes. E olhava para longe, para bem fundo ds seus pensamentos vagarosos como um arbusto seco na brisa condescendente da tarde.
E o Clint é de facto a paciência em pessoa. Quando era novo fazia papeis em que mais de duas palavras pareciam cansá-lo e ser absolutamente desnecessárias. Quando começou a envelhecer foi fazendo filmes que se superam uns ao outros, sobre todos os temas, música, amor, abuso, injustiça, azar, esforço, sonho, tragédia, morte, doçura, realidade, vida, horror, sexo, sossego e paciência. Dos melhores retratos do ser humano como ele/ela são que já vi nas telas. Esperou até ser velho para dizer as palavras que foi formando e não dizia.
E agora percebo quão longe e quão fundo ia o seu olhar.

As frases do meio são de um conto chamado "The Willows" de Algernon Blackwood. Sobre o cultivo da paciência em plena tempestade da imaginação, dos sentimentos e dos instintos, no meio de uma ilha longe de tudo e estranhamente familiar...

Dave Boyle: Maybe some day you forget what it's like to be human and maybe then, it's ok.

This grim theology is as close as anyone comes to faith, but Mr. Eastwood’s understanding of the universe, and of human nature, is if anything even more pessimistic. The evil of murderers and child molesters represents a fundamental imbalance in the order of things that neither the forces of law and order nor the impulse toward vengeance can rectify... The actions of his abusers spring from some bestial, uncivilized impulse that cries out to be exterminated. The problem—the tragedy—is that grief, loyalty and even love spring from the same source.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/nov2003/myst-n03.shtml