No man has a right in America to treat any other man "tolerantly" for tolerance is the assumption of superiority. Our liberties are equal rights of every citizen.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes that tolerance should not be viewed as a means of superiority over others, but rather as an essential equality among all citizens.
Wendell Willkie's quote challenges the notion of tolerance as a virtue that implies a hierarchy where one person tolerates another from a position of superiority. Instead, it asserts that true equality means recognizing the equal worth and rights of every citizen in America, advocating for a genuine sense of respect and shared liberty among individuals without a patronizing attitude.
In practice
In a speech advocating for civil rights, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of true equality.
Freedom is an indivisible word. If we want to enjoy it, and fight for it, we must be prepared to extend it to everyone, whether they are rich or poor, whether they agree with us or not, no matter what their race or the color of their skin.
It is from weakness that people reach for dictators and concentrated government power. Only the strong can be free. And only the productive can be strong.
Today it is becoming increasingly apparent to thoughtful Americans that we cannot fight the forces and ideas of imperialism abroad and maintain any form of imperialism at home. The war has done this to our thinking.
I believe the moral losses of expediency always far outweigh the temporary gains.
To suppress minority thinking and minority expression would tend to freeze society and prevent progress. Now more than ever we must keep in the forefront of our minds the fact that whenever we take away the liberties of those we hate, we are opening the way to loss of liberty for those we love.
We cannot restore integrity and morality to our society until each of us-singly and individually-takes responsibility for our actions.
As a historian, he felt it his duty to respect everything that had ever been respected, except for the occasional statesman.
There's a certain point, when you're writing autobiographical stuff, where you don't want to misrepresent yourself. It would be dishonest.
It is remarkable, that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society. The thoughts alone suffice them, without investing itself in the flesh and blood of action.
I've only ever written about one thing in my life, which is the fact that we, as human beings, have a responsibility to one another and that it's important that we empathize with others, that we organize society so that we all become happier and we all get the life we really want.
Giving up attachment to the world does not mean that you set yourself apart from it. Generating a desire for others to be happy increases your humanity. As you become less attached to the world, you become more humane. As the very purpose of spiritual practice is to help others, you must remain in society.
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