Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in one ahead.

The quip points to a common asymmetry in everyday moral judgment: we praise “patience” when it benefits us (the driver behind us tolerating our pace) but resent it when it inconveniences us (the driver ahead proceeding cautiously). By framing the virtue in a traffic scenario, the line exposes how quickly ideals become self-serving preferences. It also satirizes the way people externalize blame on the road—others’ slowness feels like a character flaw, while our own slowness feels justified by circumstances. The humor works as a gentle critique of impatience and a reminder that virtues are easiest to admire when they cost us nothing.