Bertrand Russell on Tolerance
“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 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, BBC Interview on Face to Face (1959)
I’m not sure Lord Russell would be too impressed with what’s happened recently in many parts of the world, but I suspect he’d be especially peeved with the UK (with its anti-immigrant sentiment that formed the underpinnings of Brexit) and the United States (with Trumpism).
The latter is one of the most shockingly disgusting setback events in the recent history of the developed world, especially since insofar it has unleashed a pandemic of hate and ignorance, the course of which is going to be very difficult to reverse.
