Tolerance: The Way of Nature

When people live together, there are bound to be differences, friction, complaints. This will happen in any family, society and country as well as, at the international level, such problems are often much more acute. But regardless of the level of contract, in any human interaction, there will always be unpleasant situations. What is the remedy? The best answer is tolerance, on an individual as well as on a collective basis. That is the only practical method of living together if there is to be peace and progress. Without the spirit of tolerance, there can be no uplift or progress of the human race. We should not make the mistake, however, of regarding tolerance as a state of passivity. It is rather a realistic approach engendered by a positive state of mind. It certainly does not mean opting for an inferior choice under duress when a better choice was possible. The truth is that there is no alternative to tolerance: it is a practical necessity and not a social weakness. It often happens that when a person is is confronted with with an unpleasant situation, their first impulse is to fight it, fully believing that their struggle will set things right. Yet, after imposing their will on the situation and adjusting it to their own terms, they eventually discover that this new state of affairs has aspects just as bad as—if not worse than—the original problem. Lacking the spirit of tolerance, they were driven into an unnecessary and ugly confrontation from the very beginning.