Tolerance: Its Significance Today

Similarly, a peaceful society can be created only by accepting differences and diversities. In this world, unity is achievable only by learning to unite despite differences, rather than insisting on unity without differences, because the total eradication of differences is an impossibility. Therefore, a major secret to attaining peace in life is tolerance and accepting differences. There is nothing wrong with the diversity of opinions, beliefs, and ways of life. On the contrary, this is a positive quality which has many advantages. For example, the beauty of the garden of life is enhanced if the flowers are of different sorts and colours. An advantage of appreciating diversity and differences is that it helps build character. For example, if you are wellmannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. However, if you behave kindly toward those who hold divergent views from you or who criticize you, you deserve to be credited with having an excellent character. A society whose members hold similar views and never have any critical discussions will soon find itself in the doldrums. The intellectual development of the members of this society will freeze because personal evolution takes place only where there is the interaction of divergent ideas and ways of thinking. Where there is no such interaction, how can there be intellectual development? Nobody in this world is perfect. If a person is endowed with some good qualities, he may be lacking in others. This is one reason why differences crop up among people. However,