45 Tolerance Quotes To Inspire

In a world as diverse and dynamic as ours, the value of tolerance cannot be overstated. Whether it’s embracing different cultures, understanding varying viewpoints, or simply coexisting peacefully, tolerance forms the bedrock of a harmonious society. To shed light on this essential virtue, we've curated a collection of the top 45 tolerance quotes. These insightful words, from a variety of voices, are sure to inspire deeper understanding and compassion in your daily life. Dive in and let these quotes remind you of the power and importance of tolerance in fostering a more inclusive and understanding world.

1. “Discord is the great ill of mankind; and tolerance is the only remedy for it.” - Voltaire

2. “As you walk, hop, hobble, or wheelMeeting people of different kinds, Remember that being handicappedIs only a state of mind” - Stephen Cosgrove

3. “As you walk through forestsor the meadows of your mind,Stop and talk to those you fearGood friendships you may find” - Stephen Cosgrove

4. “The efficiency of the cleaning solution in liquefying wizards suggested the operation of an antithetical principal,which-" "Did you have to get him started?" Cimorene asked reproachfully.” - Patricia C. Wrede

5. “...what a surprise (we all know how tolerant the tolerant are)-...” - Junot Diaz

6. “In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.” - Dalai Lama XIV

7. “If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.[Commencement Address at American University, June 10 1963]” - John F. Kennedy

8. “Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble.” - Joseph Campbell

9. “All men are made one for another: either then teach them better or bear with them.” - Marcus Aurelius

10. “A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.” - Henry Wallace

11. “I'm not out to disturb anybody's faith. I happen to be happy and comfortable with a belief system that has a dual deity and operates on a lunar schedule. It suits my needs. If you happen to be happy and comfortable with a belief system that features a single masculine deity and operates on a solar schedule, fine. I don't give a fat damn. What matters is what you do, not who's name you do it in.” - Mercedes Lackey

12. “It's an universal law-- intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility.” - Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

13. “Reinette: One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel.” - Steven Moffat

14. “Tolerance only for those who agree with you is no tolerance at all.” - Ray A. Davis

15. “Don't be in a hurry to condemn because he doesn't do what you do or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn't know what you know today.” - Malcolm X

16. “Tolerance of intolerance is cowardice.” - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

17. “Wide differences of opinion in matters of religious, political, and social belief must exist if conscience and intellect alike are not to be stunted, if there is to be room for healthy growth.” - Theodore Roosevelt

18. “If you accept others as equals, you embrace them unconditionally, now and forever. But if you let them know that you tolerate them, you suggest in the same breath that they are actually an inconvenience, like a nagging pain or an unpleasant odour you are willing to disregard.” - Arthur Japin

19. “Tolerance is nothing more than patience with boundaries.” - Shannon Alder

20. “Don't get so tolerant that you tolerate intolerance.” - Bill Maher

21. “You are evidence of your mother's strength, especially if you are a rebellious knucklehead and regardless she has always maintained her sanity.” - Criss Jami

22. “I have always known that the best of the Saracens could out-Christian many of us Christians.” - Ellis Peters

23. “All I say is: Let us leave les folles alone; let's just leave them be. Don't judge them. You are not superior to them - don't put them down.” - John Irving

24. “It is not for me to judge another man's life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.” - Herman Hesse

25. “Love is wise; hatred is foolish. In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other, we have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don't like. We can only live together in that way. But if we are to live together, and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.” - Bertrand Russell

26. “One day, the old wise Socrates walks down the streets, when all of the sudden a man runs up to him "Socrates I have to tell you something about your friend who...""Hold up" Socrates interrupts him "About the story you're about to tell me, did you put it trough the three sieves?""Three sieves?" The man asks "What three sieves?""Let's try it" Socrates says."The first sieve is the one of truth, did you examine what you were about to tell me if it is true?" Socrates asks."Well no, I just overheard it" The man says."Ah, well then you have used the second sieve, the sieve of good?" Socrates asks "Is it something good what you're about to tell me?""Ehm no, on the contrary" the man answers."Hmmm" The wise man says "Let's use the third sieve then, is it necessary to tell me what you're so exited about?""No not necessary" the man says."Well" Socrates says with a smile "If the story you're about to tell me isn't true, good or necessary, just forget it and don't bother me with it.” - Socrates

27. “Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms. […] If we cannot learn to actually enjoy those small differences, to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there.” - Gene Roddenberry

28. “Tolerance, which is one form of love of neighbor, must manifest itself not only in our personal relations, but also in the arena of society as well. In the world of opinion and politics, tolerance is that virtue by which liberated minds conquer the evils of bigotry and hatred. Tolerance implies more than forbearance or the passive enduring of ideas different from our own. Properly conceived, tolerance is the positive and cordial effort to understand another’s beliefs, practices, and habits without necessarily sharing or accepting them. Tolerance quickens our appreciation and increases our respect for our neighbor’s point of view. It goes even further; it assumes a militant aspect when the rights of an opponent are assailed. Voltaire’s dictum, “I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” is for all ages and places the perfect utterance of the tolerant ideal.” - Joshua Loth Liebman

29. “Insularity is the foundation of ethnocentrism and intolerance; when you only know of those like yourself, it is easy to imagine that you are alone in the world or alone in being good and right in the world. Exposure to diversity, on the contrary, is the basis for relativism and tolerance; when you are forced to face and accept the Other as real, unavoidable, and ultimately valuable, you cannot help but see yourself and your 'truths' in a new - and trouble - way.” - David Eller

30. “Es ist wichtig zu begreifen, dass wir der Toleranz nicht dienen, wenn wir unser Profil verwässern, sondern indem wir uns umgekehrt unserer eigenen Werte wieder vergewissern. [...] Wir tun der Toleranz auch nichts Böses an, wenn wir die Menschenrechte verteidigen, wie sie in den letzten Jahrhunderten und Jahrzehnten entwickelt und niedergeschrieben wurden in der Allgemeinen Erklärung der Menschenrechte der Vereinten Nationen und einer Vielzahl von Konventionen, die detailliert den Schutz einzelner Menschenrechte regeln - etwa zum Schutz von Flüchtlingen, zur Verhinderung von Völkermord, gegen die Diskriminierung der Frau etc. Fast alle Staaten der Welt haben sich nach tiefer leidvoller Erfahrung, nach nationaler Hybris und nach ideologischem oder religösem Fanatismus im Prinzip auf diese Grundrechte und die Rule of Law als Minimum einer Überlebensordnung geeinigt. Die als universell, unveräußerlich und unteilbar angesehenen Menschenrechte sind daher ein gemeinsames Gut der Menschheit. Und wir dürfen und müssen gegenüber kommunistischen, fanatisch-islamistischen oder despotischen Staaten über ihre Verletzung sprechen; denn als Menschen sind wir verpflichtet, die Menschenrechte unserer Mitmenschen zu respektieren und zu verteidigen.” - Joachim Gauck

31. “Ich wünsche mir, dass sich unsere Gesellschaft tolerant, wertbewusst und vor allen Dingen in Liebe zur Freiheit entwickelt und nicht vergisst, dass die Freiheit der Erwachsenen Verantwortung heißt.” - Joachim Gauck

32. “...am so deeply impressed with the fair mindedness and tolerance of the American people...” - Virchand Raghavji Gandhi

33. “When my little group get together, if we disagree about something, we can sort it out. Example: Mohona Hossain hates Divargiit Singh. Hates all his movies. Hates him with a passion. She likes that other fool with the eyelashes like a lady! But we compromise. Never once have I burned a single video of hers.” - zadie smith

34. “Razmišljam i ja ponekad o svom poreklu, naravno, ali pritom ne vidim bogomolje, simbole, ni šarene pantljike folklora kojima se kite konji Pripadnosti... (...) Razmišljam i ja ponekad o svom poreklu, naravno, ali naše Porodično Stablo vidim samo kao mladicu na obodu Velike Šume...Zamrznem tako likove na tajnoj večeri u bezimenoj podkarpatskoj gostionici, Sluge i Gospodare, Silne i Prepadnute, Lukave, Priglupe, Sretne...I mislim: koji je moj? Čiji sam ja to? Na talasima čije krvi penušaju mehurići moje embrionske duše, i u čijim se venama, a da grešan ni ne sluti, koprcaju kao punoglavci moja čula i tkiva, moj fosforni skelet, i usplahireno jato mladeža?Ali ne brinem puno o tome da li je Taj bio Srbin, Tatarin, Kozak?Ni da li se krstio, klanjao, pisao s leva na desno?Ne...Brinem jedino da nije bio podlac?Palikuća?Bratoubica?Ili je neko ko je sekao srce na kriške, da bude za sve...Neko kog su uvek pitali kad o čemu treba presuditi...I neko kome se i Bog obradovao kao dragom rođaku...Kada mu je umoran zakucao na Nebo...” - Đorđe Balašević

35. “the underlying struggle - between worlds of plenty and worlds of want; between the modern and the ancient; between those who embrace our teeming, colliding, irksome diversity, while still insisting on a set of values that binds us together, and those who would seek, under whatever flag or slogan or sacred text, a certainty and simplification that justifies cruelty toward those not like us...” - Barack Obama

36. “Be nice. And if you can't do that, just don't be mean.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

37. “Every second you spend holding someone else back is time not running the race yourself.” - Rebecca Murphy

38. “Tolerance isn't about not having beliefs. It's about how your beliefs lead you to treat people who disagree with you.” - Timothy Keller

39. “Never complain about what you permit to be.” - Orrin Woodward

40. “Broadmindedness, when it means indifference to right and wrong, eventually ends in a hatred of what is right.” - Fulton J. Sheen

41. “Any religion can be compared to the attic of an old home. Unless the attic is regularly cleaned, it gathers dust and cobwebs and eventually becomes unusable. Similarly, if a religion cannot be updated or cleaned from time to time, it loses its usefulness and cannot relate anymore to changed times and people.” - Swami Bhaskarananda

42. “For tolerance (and you must remember this when you grow older), is of very recent origin and even the people of our own so-called "modern world" are apt to be tolerant only upon such matters as do not interest them very much.” - Hendrik Willem Van Loon

43. “A tolerance that no longer distinguishes between good and evil would become chaotic and self-destructive, just as a freedom that did not respect the freedom of others or find the common measure of our respective liberties would become anarchy and destroy authority.” - Benedict XVI Pope

44. “There is an important distinction to be drawn between tolerance of homosexuality and tolerance of sex tourism.” - Brian Whitaker

45. “Can you hold a red-hot iron rod in your hand merely because some one wants you to do so? Then, will it be right on your part to ask others to do the same thing just to satisfy your desires? If you cannot tolerate infliction of pain on your body or mind by others' words and actions, what right have you to do the same to others through your words and deeds?Do unto others as you would like to be done by. Injury or violence done by you to any life in any form, animal or human, is as harmful as it would e if caused to your own self.” - Lord Mahāvīra