Tolerance is something our world desperately needs. Right now, tolerance seems to be ebbing away on all fronts and with it, goes our peace, happiness and harmony. In their place, comes something awful. We can change that.
Tolerance is something we all crave — something we all feel we need and deserve. It doesn’t matter if a person is liberal or conservative and it doesn’t matter what race, nationality, sexual orientation for gender we are — each one of us feels that others need to be tolerant of us…of who we are and what we believe. Its this fact that makes things so infuriating, because there are also a lot of hypocrites in this world and they demand people be tolerant to how they feel, how they think and who they are…but they won’t show others the same respect.
The truth of the matter is, tolerance is something we should all have. This quote collection is just a short reminder of how vitally important tolerance really is:
“The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
“Toleration has never been the cause of civil war; while, on the contrary, persecution has covered the earth with blood and carnage.” – Voltaire
“Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it. No destructive lies. No ridiculous fears. No debilitating anger.” – Bill Bradley
“Once one assumes an attitude of intolerance, there is no knowing where it will take one. Intolerance, someone has said, is violence to the intellect and hatred is violence to the heart.” – Mohandas Gandhi
“Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population.” – Albert Einstein
“This world of ours… must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
“The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Nonviolence, therefore, can be described as an honest and diligent pursuit of truth. It could also mean the search for the meaning of life or the purpose of life, questions that have tormented humankind for centuries. The fact that we have not been able to find satisfactory answers to these questions does not mean there is no answer. It only means we have not searched with any degree of honesty. The search has to be both external and internal. We seek to ignore this crucial search because the sacrifices it demands are revolutionary. It means moving away from greed, selfishness, possessiveness, and dominance to love, compassion, understanding, and respect.” – Arun Gandhi
“Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace violence and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love.” – Jane Goodall
“The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don’t agree with.” – Eleanor Holmes Norton
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. – 2 Timothy 4:1-2
“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. – Ephesians 4:2
“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.” – 1 Peter 3:8-11
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” – Psalms 133:1
If we want people to bear with us and give us understanding, then we must do the same. If we desire acceptance, then shouldn’t we try to accept others? After all, even if we don’t ultimately agree with someone’s views, we still need to listen, because that’s what we expect others to do for us. If we can return to civility and fairness and stop the divisiveness and bitterness, it will make life on this earth so much more pleasant and harmonious.
