Manic Street Preachers - Ian McEwan - Ralph W Sockman - Robert G Ingersoll - Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Albert Einstein - Karl Popper - John F Kennedy - Sam Harris - Christopher Hitchens - Arlen Specter - E M Forster - Quentin Crisp - W Somerset Maugham - G K Chesterton - Penn Jillette - Alain de Botton - Helen Keller - Divided States TV - Dispatches TV - Ren Dubos -
If you tolerate this
Your children will be next. Manic Street Preachers
I suppose in the real world in which we have to rub along, the only issue here is tolerance. And who will grant tolerance to the six-thousand religions of the world? Well surely only the secular spirit is able to do this. You cannot put religious tolerance in the hands of one religion. You have to put it in the hands I think of the secular authority which either believes all of none or none of them, and says they all must thrive along with each other. They have mutually exclusive world-views ... Only the secular state, only a sort of supervening uncaring about religion, that will allow us all the freedoms to be as rational or as crazy as we want to be. Ian McEwan, interview Richard Dawkins
The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority. Ralph W Sockman
Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself. Robert Green Ingersoll
I have seen great intolerance shown in support of tolerance. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Laws alone cannot 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
We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. Karl Popper, The Open Society and its Enemies, 1945
Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others. John F Kennedy
While religious tolerance is surely better than religious war, tolerance is not without its liabilities. Our fear of provoking religious hatred has rendered us incapable of criticizing ideas that are now patently absurd and increasingly maladaptive. Sam Harris
Tolerance, openness to argument, openness to self-doubt, willingness to see other people’s points of view – these are very liberal and enlightened values that people are right to hold, but we can’t allow them to delude us to the point where we can’t recognise people who are needlessly perpetrating human misery. Sam Harris
I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness. Christopher Hitchens
While she [Mother Teresa] is there [Ireland] takes the opportunity to say not only should Irish people not be allowed abortions nor should they be allowed contraception – she’s not saying I have a great relationship with Jesus, I have a wonderful church and a wonderful faith that makes me happy, she’s saying, It better make you happy too ’cause whether you agree with it or not we’re going to impose it on you. Christopher Hitchens vs Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Public Library 4th June 2007
We don’t need holy wars. What we need is tolerance and brotherhood and simple humanity. Arlen Specter
Tolerance is a very dull virtue. It is boring. Unlike love, it has always had a bad press. It is negative. It merely means putting up with people, being able to stand things. E M Forster
Tolerance is the result not of enlightenment, but of boredom. Quentin Crisp
Tolerance is another word for indifference. W Somerset Maugham
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions. Gilbert K Chesterton
Tolerance is you saying something crazy and me smiling and saying, ‘That’s nice.’ Penn Jillette
There are few more effective ways to promote tolerance between suspicious neighbours than to force them to eat supper together. Alain de Botton
The highest result of education is tolerance. Helen Keller
Welcome to Luton: it’s the birthplace of militant Islam. Divided States I: Europe, Tommy Robinson, History 2019
Muslims have essentially become the new Jews. ibid. commentator
EDL mobilised a new generation of activists who were just focusing on Islam. ibid.
The worst refugee crisis in central Europe for a generation. ibid. news
According to the UN, over 5 million Syrians have been forced to flee their country since the war began in 2011. ibid. caption
The AfD gained 94 seats in the German parliament. ibid. caption
In recent years intolerance has been on in the rise in the United States. Divided States II
Hellerton, Pennsylvania: New charges after a fight between students sparked by a racist video posted online. ibid. television news
Portland, Oregon: Police say a known extremist with white supremacist beliefs terrorised a young Muslim woman and her friend on a train, slashing three men who came to their aid. Divided States III, television news report
‘Oregon was found as a white racist utopia.’ ibid. woman
Portland, Oregon, is also home to a large anti-fascist group called Antifa. ibid.
A crowded restaurant with people watching basketball, a man yelled, Get out of my country, before opening fire into Indian Hindus working here … Adam Purinton is in … jail charged with murder. Divided States IV: Olathe, Kansas
‘We’ve seen a massive spike in anti-Muslim sentiment.’ ibid. Jonathan Greenblatt, anti-defamation league
But look on the streets of America, you can see this is a nation deeply divided. Election losers are accusing the winners of cheating. Racial tension. The healing has to begin. Donald Trump may have lost but around 70,000,000 Americans voted for him … What next for these Divided States of America? … How possible is it to heal that divide? Dispatches: Divided States of America, Channel 4 2020
Human diversity makes tolerance more than a virtue; it makes it a requirement for survival. Rene Dubos, Celebrations of Life, 1981