Henry James reminds us that traditions aren't born from grand gestures or brilliant planning—they accumulate almost invisibly, through the patient repetition of small moments across decades. The real insight here isn't simply that traditions take time, but that they require *countless* iterations before anyone recognizes them as traditions at all; you don't wake up one morning and declare something traditional. Consider a family's Christmas morning ritual of burnt toast and coffee in the kitchen before opening presents—it becomes a tradition only after years of repetition make it feel inevitable, even sacred, to everyone gathered there. James understood that what we call "tradition" is really just history settling into habit, which means every tradition we cherish is secretly built from forgotten, unremarkable days.