“Being open-minded and empathetical.”¹⁾

“Not being inconsiderate and hardhearted.”²⁾

“If there is an issue that may cause a dispute, make consultation. Do not control too firmly; people have different characters. It is now essential to look at each other with tolerance.”³⁾

“Be so tolerant that your heart becomes wide like the ocean. Become inspired with faith and love for others. Offer a hand to those in trouble, and be concerned about everyone.”⁴⁾

“The most distinctive feature of a soul overflowing with faith is to love all types of love that are expressed in deeds, and to feel enmity for all deeds in which enmity is expressed. To hate everything is a sign of insanity or of infatuation with Satan. You love human beings and feel admiration for humanity.”⁵⁾

“Tolerance is the roses on the hills of our world. We have represented this virtue for centuries, hand in hand, keeping our hearts together. God willing, this tree, which has such tolerance at its root, will come to life again as a result of its rebirth, and it will once again represent tolerance fully.”⁶⁾

“… our religion is the source of our understanding of tolerance, or tolerance is a necessity of the nature of our religion and a depth of it. We have represented this tolerance throughout the world during the centuries when we made religion the spirit of our lives… Despite all the negative conditions, our duty today is to first cultivate the understanding of tolerance within ourselves, and then to maintain our relations in this way.”⁷⁾

“It is imperative that people be accepted in their own positions by respecting their feelings and thoughts, and considering the least common denominator of ‘being human.’” This is also an Islamic understanding… It is very important for the peace and happiness of humanity that concepts such as ‘social peace’ and ‘tolerance’ become widespread all over the world.”⁸⁾

“… the devoted souls, who are the cultural envoys in our time, should take their values to different parts of the world not with weapons and brutal force but with knowledge, wisdom, love, tolerance, and goodness; because the way of peace and love opens the way that leads to hearts, whereas brutal force causes grudge and hatred to rise from the dead.”⁹⁾

“… this old world has no tolerance anymore for such animosity fixed on grudge and hatred, and for the weapons of extermination, which are natural consequences of this animosity. If these waves of hatred are not stopped with bridges of love, tolerance, and dialogue, facing horrible events to concern the entire humanity and the coming of the apocalypse will be inevitable.”¹⁰⁾

“Mankind has used grudge and hatred many times to solve the problems they face. I wish we could use love and tolerance once from now on. If only we could open our hearts to everyone, and no one who enters there should worry that he or she will find no place to seat. If only we could treat everyone with a deep sense of reverence. If only we could read the feelings of people and the cultural environments in which they grew up with a serious sense of empathy and treat everyone accordingly. For, what we expect from others is what they expect from us. If we expect respect, we must show respect. If we want our rights to be respected, we must respect everyone’s rights.”¹¹⁾.

“The dedicated Hizmet volunteers need to keep walking on the path they have taken. They should do their best and use all legitimate means in order to make human and universal values such as peace, tolerance, reconciliation and dialogue dominant in society and even in the whole world.”¹²⁾

Compassion

Dialogue

Love

Peace

Respect

Klas Grinell, Reflections on Reason, Religion, and Tolerance

M. Fethullah Gülen, Toward a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance

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