Love and Tolerate....really?

[Dorian Gray 32]

As any Brony will know the bases of being a Brony is the saying "love and tolerate" seems pretty simple.

But it looks to actually mean don't give into/fuel the haters which is not love or tolerance but resistance.

 

quickly-

In my experience and as best I can put it:

 

Love; To care deeply for another so much that you would put their needs above your wants regardless of how indifferent they are to you. "To love is to often receive no love in return and yet remain true to the emotion"

 

Tolerance; To tolerate or have tolerance to another is to look past the aggravation and or ignorance of both them and your own short comings and Ideals. If you are willing to tolerate another person it mean your willing to forgive past misgrievances and still cooperate and work with each other.

"It is impossible to know everything, simply by knowing something means you don't know what it is to not know. So understand that you do not know everything and then have sympathy, not anger, have understanding, not thoughts of superiority...."

 

So to say that we love and tolerate does not give us the right to say we are better than the haters or that it is our duty to change their mind either, but to understand that at some point we thought like them but made a choice they have not yet reached. We must not Resist them and their insults but try to understand why they feel they need to insult in the first place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a side not: I wish to start a youtube channel dedicated to similar thoughts, but not just, on Ponies, Brony culture and general human interactions but would first like to get your opinions based off this and any of my previous articles if I should even bother.

Any feedback/input is welcomed and if you feel Iv been to.....'Preachy' here then say so and ill remove if need be.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,651]

"love and tolerate" has lost so much of its original meaning and luster that now it's mostly used as a shield for people to hide behind when they troll or act stupidly

 

por ejemplo, "Why am I in trouble? I didn't mean to say/do what I did! What happened to love and tolerate huh?!?!?"

[ProjectRKA 2,840]

THANK YOU. FOR MAKING THIS THREAD. You sir, have all my respect. Well done man. Edited April 3, 2012 by ProjectRKA

[Prince Lightning Da Cute 616]

Love and tolerate varies from pony to pony, I don't love but I do tolerate. I feel that you have defined both exactly, if you're a physiologist I see why then.

[Dragonshy 2,305]

I agree, like Doctor XFizzle said its been used more for a shield lately

Edited April 3, 2012 by Dragonshy

[CapnKrunk 307]

That saying lost it's "taste"

[ponyvangelist 732]

To love and tolerate need not mean ignoring bad behavior, nor should it be proferred as a (weak) excuse for bad behavior. We are each responsible for our own behavior, and to treat others poorly is as much an offense against ourselves as against them.

 

The elegant beauty of loving and tolerating one another is that in doing so, we lay the foundation for a community in which everyone is welcomed and accepted for who they really are.

 

Nopony's perfect, after all. To love and tolerate each other in full recognition of that fact is to honestly, knowingly and deliberately make our world a better place to live.

 

One need not be a fan of Friendship is Magic to appreciate the power of putting its simple but universal lessons into practice in our lives.

 

It speaks for all of us, and it speaks for itself.

[Kyreth 193]

People interpret love and tolerance differently. Personally I find that it has its limits. The majority of the time, its best to be tolerant of the views and actions of others and to avoid confrontation. But there are situations where you have to stand up against genuinely evil behaviour such as bullying, discrimination and so on.

 

 

"love and tolerate" has lost so much of its original meaning and luster that now it's mostly used as a shield for people to hide behind when they troll or act stupidly

 

por ejemplo, "Why am I in trouble? I didn't mean to say/do what I did! What happened to love and tolerate huh?!?!?"

 

Yeah, unfortunately it is open to abuse. I agree with you there.

[Nothing392 61]

In my opinion, the term really should be Love or Tolerate. If you already love someone, doesn't that mean you already tolerate them? What I really get out of it is love everyone you can, and if you can't love someone, accept that and go your separate ways.

[spas-ticShotty 3,582]

I wouldn't exactly "love" (Accept is a better word), but I would try to tolerate.

[ANGEL33 87]

Get over it, Dorian. You're just mad because you got you butt kicked in The League of Extordinary Gentlemen.

[Randomiser 115]

Tolerate ≠ Love. I can't always love everypony, but I try to tolerate or respect those I can't love.

As said above, there's a difference between tolerating and ignoring poor behavior. A brony can respond to a a hateful or insulting comment without being a jerk themselves.

[ANGEL33 87]

I have no idea what that means

[Aureity 3,055]

"Love" and tolerate probably isn't the right word. The ideal image (from my point of view) of a brony is not a Ned Flanders-type of person. As mentioned above by multiple people, accept and tolerate is probably a better term. You don't have to fawn over everyone you meet, but neither should you dismiss them. Just a little head nod, and go off and do your own thing, and let them do theirs. Love is a pretty strong word, and I for one would like to reserve that word to describe things I very much care about. I love my parents. I love my (future) girlfriend. I love ponies. I won't just randomly love a stranger I see on the street, and I doubt anyone else would, either.

 

However, you don't need love to be kind. Save the love for the times you really mean it, and simply practice kindness and toleration to everyone you meet.

[Fox 5,330]

I love and tolerate....

[bloodyfox 65]

From my interactions with other bronies on the interwebz, I think there are 2 main groups of Bronies. Those who are true to the show and its messages such as "love and tolerate". The other group like ponies but seem to not follow the "love and tolerate" aspect. They may be very rude, aggressive, or inconsiderate. The latter are the ones, I believe, who give the fandom a negative reputation aside from its basic social misconceptions. Fans of MLP or not "Love and Tolerance" is a great way to live ones life and create a better world(Again this only my opinion).

 

 

EDIT:

 

In response to the posts about not loving everypony; I believe it is love to tolerate someone. It is the lowest form of love, yes, but I still feel that it should be considered love.

Edited April 3, 2012 by BloodyFox214

[halcyonharlot 372]

Well, I can only speak for myself here, but I sure as sugar don't love everybody. Love is a word I try to reserve for people I feel very strong, positive emotions for (e.g., close friends, romantic partners, family members, etc.).

 

Now tolerance is a little easier to manage, but even so, there are some things I just simply refuse to tolerate. Intentional bigotry being one of them, in addition to other awful, hateful things.

 

I believe that everyone should be afforded some basic respect, but everyone has their limits as to how far they're willing to extend that courtesy. But I definitely don't think that treating other people with a basic amount of decency doesn't make better than anyone else. Then again, I have a pretty low opinion of myself to start with lol.

[Eenohay 318]

Love and Tolerate is dead. It was a nice saying, but it humans aren't like that.

[HomuraBL 851]

I just want to say one thing. People who say we got the saying from the show REALLY need to look back at the show and realize the lessons are Friendship not Love and Tolerate.

[Kodiak 431]

In my opinion, the term really should be Love or Tolerate. If you already love someone, doesn't that mean you already tolerate them? What I really get out of it is love everyone you can, and if you can't love someone, accept that and go your separate ways.

 

You know, that's how I originally interpreted the meaning of "Love and Tolerate." If you can't love/befriend someone, then just tolerate your differences and live life. Though, Dr. XFizzle up there's completely right about how this has really lost the strong meaning it had a year ago; it's really one of the many things that has changed about the brony community since I joined.

[ponyvangelist 732]

I just want to say one thing. People who say we got the saying from the show REALLY need to look back at the show and realize the lessons are Friendship not Love and Tolerate.

As far as I know, the expression "love and tolerance" is never used in the show itself, but is a product of the brony community. Ironically enough, it was probably coined with a great deal of sarcasm (we're talking about 4chan here) as a sort of parody or dig at the idea of adult males identifying with a show like this.

 

That doesn't mean either the expression or concept are invalid, however. Those words evoke an ideal that is quite suited for fans of the show, and for human beings in general.

 

Certainly, our world could use much more of both -- for any reason, or for no reason at all.

[Daring Do 195]

Well, we are only human, you can't exactly blame us for not following the code. Heck! Now that I think of it, this is intolerance of human imperfection! Though some people do want to follow it, you can't expect them to all the time, best to put those grievances behind...

[Ra1nbowCrasH 271]

Get over it, Dorian. You're just mad because you got you butt kicked in The League of Extordinary Gentlemen.

 

Do you go to a Jesuit School? I go to one and we have The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen too

[bloodyfox 65]

Even though the phrase "Love and Tolerance" has never been directly mentioned in the show, I think it is still implied.

 

What is friendship(Other than Magic; that is a given)? The bond that two people/ponies share? Knowing about them and their interests and feelings? You can't have a friendship without love and tolerance.

 

When I say love I'm not meaning romantic love(I've noticed some people see love only as romantic). To care about someone is love. To be there for someone is love. To tolerate someone, in my opinion, is love(as I mentioned in an earlier post). You cannot have a friendship without loving the other person. Sometimes they may do things that annoy or irritate you and that's where tolerance comes into play.

 

SPOILER BELOW BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THE SPOILER TAG!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Example of love and tolerance in a friendship from the show:

 

Fluttershy didn't want to be a model in "Green Isn't Your Color", yet she still tried her best and tolerated it because she didn't want to disappoint Rarity. Rarity had to tolerate Fluttershy's new spotlight position even though she wanted it for herself and even though she had bad thoughts about wanting Fluttershy to "ruin her modelling career". Rarity was able to overcome those thoughts and feelings because she loves Fluttershy.

Edited April 3, 2012 by BloodyFox214

[Perfect_Harmony 58]

Although I can agree with the concept of "Love and Tolerate" there are some....problems with it. I can honestly say that I agree with the tolerate part of the saying. I feel like it is our duty to be above the haters and not stoop down to their levels. If we did, we would be like the rest of the internet. The love part is where I disagree. I only would show gestures of kindness to those who show it in return, not those who hate us. That doesn't mean that I would strike back at the haters, I would tolerate them. I see our corner here as a little "safe heaven" of the internet. We don't have to love everybody, but we can make the internet a better place by staying strong and showing our values to everybody. If they decide to join us, we will welcome them with open arms hence the "Love" part of the saying.