Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle.
Norman Anderson on Racing Bicycle, 1914
Her teacher does not harass her with the little unhappy things; but of the important difficulties they have been through, Miss Keller was fully informed, took her share of the suffering, and put her mind to the problems. She is logical and tolerant, most trustful of a world that has treated her kindly.
Once when some one asked her to define “love,” she replied, “Why, bless you, that is easy; it is what everybody feels for everybody else.”
“Toleration,” she said once, when she was visiting her friend Mrs. Laurence Hutton, “is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle.“
about Helen Keller
from The Story of My Life(June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968)
by Helen Keller, John Albert Macy, Annie Sullivan
image – Library of Congress
December 30th, 2009 at 10:40 am
The world could use more tolerance…a lot more tolerance.
I heard this afternoon that a friend of the family sent her young teenage son to the nearby shop, and armed robbers came in and told everyone to take their clothes off. He refused and they shot him.
If you believe in prayer, please say one for Sammy.
December 31st, 2009 at 3:01 am
Update on Sammy: His little brother was with him but Sammy protected him. The bullet went through his arm and into his abdomen. Doctors were able to get it out and he is alive.
Thank you for your prayers!
January 2nd, 2010 at 4:04 am
Thanks for the update, Juanita. My heart sank when I read what happened, and really lit up when I read that he is ALIVE!