--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No civilization has a monopoly on…" description: "\"No civilization has a monopoly on tolerance; each is capable of bigotry.\" — Amitava Kumar" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/amitava-kumar-5002_bigotry_no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolera_2249421.png" --- # No civilization has a monopoly on tolerance; each is… ![“No civilization has a monopoly on tolerance; each is capable of bigotry.” quote by Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/amitava-kumar-5002_bigotry_no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolera_2249421.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/amitava-kumar-5002_bigotry_no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolera_2249421.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/amitava-kumar-5002_bigotry_no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolera_2249421.png) > “No civilization has a monopoly on tolerance; each is capable of bigotry.” [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tolerance is not exclusive to any culture; all societies can exhibit prejudice. **In simple terms:** All societies can be intolerant. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge bias everywhere. Themes tolerance bigotry societal behavior Mood reflective critical Type analytical thought‑provoking When to use this quote - education - policy making - community dialogue - media reporting Key Concepts cultural relativism human nature Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure your community stays inclusive? - What safeguards prevent bigotry? A Different Perspective Even tolerant societies can slip into intolerance under stress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bigotry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigotry/) [Capable Bigotry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capable-bigotry-2080791/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Each](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/each/) [Monopoly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monopoly/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Tolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerance/) [Tolerance Capable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerance-capable-5131668/) ## Related quotes > [“London, its conglomerate nature mirroring his own, its reticence also his; its gargoyles, the ghostly footfalls in its streets of Roman feet, the honks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/london-its-conglomerate-nature-mirroring-his-own-its-reticence-also/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Readers will be swept up by the drama and fast pace of this powerful debut novel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/international-reading-association-reading-today-online/readers-will-be-swept-up-by-the-drama-and-fast-pace-of-this-powerful-2/) [International Reading Association Reading Today Online](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/international-reading-association-reading-today-online/) > [“An Underground Railroad story with a distinctive flavor. –Booklist”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lovejoy/an-underground-railroad-story-with-a-distinctive-flavor-booklist/) [Sharon Lovejoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lovejoy/) > [“In some cases, I am able to respect what so many call bigots. Such people have a more solid foundation for drawing their lines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/in-some-cases-i-am-able-to-respect-what-so-many-call-bigots-such/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [“The rural, mid-19th-century dialect, coupled with the author's interest in ethnobotany, roots the story deeply in the houses, forests, gardens, and even streambeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lovejoy/the-rural-mid-19th-century-dialect-coupled-with-the-author-s-interest/) [Sharon Lovejoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lovejoy/) > [“A gripping historical novel . . . heart-stopping, heart-racing and eventually heart-easing.–Library Voice”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lovejoy/a-gripping-historical-novel-heart-stopping-heart-racing-and/) [Sharon Lovejoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lovejoy/) > [We must never remain silent in the face of bigotry. We must condemn those who seek to divide us. 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Fewer still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lovejoy/rarely-do-page-turners-written-for-middle-school-kids-also-ignite/) [Sharon Lovejoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lovejoy/) > [“(Running out of Night) ...is a story that respects this pivotal era of American history, a story that reveals the pain, the courage, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lovejoy/running-out-of-night-is-a-story-that-respects-this-pivotal-era-of/) [Sharon Lovejoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lovejoy/) > [“Why is it that, for one religion to be true, all other religions have to be false!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/why-is-it-that-for-one-religion-to-be-true-all-other-religions-have/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Pilgrim's Regress (Sonnet 2324) Mirage mistaken as message, when ethnic cleansing feels enlightened, Sinai becomes septic, Bethlehem becomes Bedlam. Dogma decreed as divine, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/pilgrim-s-regress-sonnet-2324-mirage-mistaken-as-message-when-ethnic/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“This book would be a great addition to a classroom library, especially considering its emphases on timeless and critical topics like discrimination and prejudice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lovejoy/this-book-would-be-a-great-addition-to-a-classroom-library-especially/) [Sharon Lovejoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lovejoy/) > [Anytime new insight replaces an old assumption or a fossilized perception is the spring. New understandings sprout, new tolerances appear, and new curiosity draws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/anytime-new-insight-replaces-an-old-assumption-or-a-fossilized/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [To take up half on trust, and half to try, Name it not faith but bungling bigotry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/to-take-up-half-on-trust-and-half-to-try-name-it-not-faith-but/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by Amitava Kumar > [I thought I'd be the first to introduce herbal tea to Patna. White tea, ginger tea, rooibos, camomile. No one touched it. On subsequent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/i-thought-i-d-be-the-first-to-introduce-herbal-tea-to-patna-white-tea/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [Any real piece of writing is an act of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/any-real-piece-of-writing-is-an-act-of-courage/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [We live in a cynical system where the powerful are able to exploit the demand of the aggressive few, from whichever religion or group,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/we-live-in-a-cynical-system-where-the-powerful-are-able-to-exploit/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [For some members of the radical Left, particularly in the West, people in developing countries are an ideological abstraction, on whom fantasies of liberation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/for-some-members-of-the-radical-left-particularly-in-the-west-people/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [The writer will write in his or her words, but the readers, even when they are not reading you, will take it elsewhere entirely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/the-writer-will-write-in-his-or-her-words-but-the-readers-even-when/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [My past makes me an insider, but my profession makes me an outsider. A writer always stands outside to report on reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/my-past-makes-me-an-insider-but-my-profession-makes-me-an-outsider-a/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [“There is no point in fighting condescension with condescension.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/there-is-no-point-in-fighting-condescension-with-condescension/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [We learn that our lives find narrative form neither in the tired, familiar slogans of our captains nor in the symmetries of ideological camps,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/we-learn-that-our-lives-find-narrative-form-neither-in-the-tired/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [All good works of art must ask this question: 'You want to breathe free, yes, but do you know how to kiss?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/all-good-works-of-art-must-ask-this-question-you-want-to-breathe-free/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [An essay is not an op-ed that tells its reader what to think. An essay is a complicated working-out of one's own contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/an-essay-is-not-an-op-ed-that-tells-its-reader-what-to-think-an-essay/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [Does the entry of Indian H-1B worker augur a change in the relations of production in the world of cybertechnology? No, but the presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/does-the-entry-of-indian-h-1b-worker-augur-a-change-in-the-relations/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [Michael Ondaatje’s work taught me how to be at home in fragments, and how to think about a big story in carefully curated vignettes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/michael-ondaatje-s-work-taught-me-how-to-be-at-home-in-fragments-and/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [The thing about good art is that it makes you look at things in a new way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/the-thing-about-good-art-is-that-it-makes-you-look-at-things-in-a-new/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [To write what is not dead on the page, one has to be open to all kinds of disturbances and challenges and confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/to-write-what-is-not-dead-on-the-page-one-has-to-be-open-to-all-kinds/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [Inequality reigns in horrifying ways, and not everyone can even read, but the world of media and advertising withholds very little from the imagination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/inequality-reigns-in-horrifying-ways-and-not-everyone-can-even-read/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) [Explore all 104 Amitava Kumar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) ## More Bigotry quotes > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [To take up half on trust, and half to try, Name it not faith but bungling bigotry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/to-take-up-half-on-trust-and-half-to-try-name-it-not-faith-but/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [ What are you for? It may be, to a degree, consoling that white brothers and sisters did not vote for \[Donald\] Trump, and do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/what-are-you-for-it-may-be-to-a-degree-consoling-that-white-brothers/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Bigoted people are just scholars who lack any sort of legitimate credentials to answer why they're bigoted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doctavius/bigoted-people-are-just-scholars-who-lack-any-sort-of-legitimate/) [Doctavius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doctavius/) > [Sadly, we can't eliminate bigotry. But that doesn't mean we have to tolerate it, much less give it a platform on which to thrive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-viner/sadly-we-can-t-eliminate-bigotry-but-that-doesn-t-mean-we-have-to/) [Katharine Viner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-viner/) > [Ideological bigotry has become the norm on even our most prestigious campuses, where students can go for years without reading or hearing anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/ideological-bigotry-has-become-the-norm-on-even-our-most-prestigious/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“People talk about history and things like slavery, genocide, and religious persecution as horrors that happened in the past because we were ignorant. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-matthew-nespoli/people-talk-about-history-and-things-like-slavery-genocide-and/) [J. Matthew Nespoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-matthew-nespoli/) > [“Remember who you are. This creature wants to take it from you. Do not let him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/remember-who-you-are-this-creature-wants-to-take-it-from-you-do-not/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [“Oh Beautiful For A Land That's Free Where All Can Congregate Together Live With No Degree Of Bigotry And Hate”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bee/oh-beautiful-for-a-land-that-s-free-where-all-can-congregate-together/) [Kathy Bee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bee/) > [“That’s the problem with indoctrination—the whole point of the First Order’s kind of education is to stop someone from thinking and instead kick their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delilah-s-dawson/that-s-the-problem-with-indoctrination-the-whole-point-of-the-first/) [Delilah S. Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delilah-s-dawson/) > [Too small is our world to allow discrimination, bigotry and intolerance to thrive in any corner of it, let alone in the United States…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-engel/too-small-is-our-world-to-allow-discrimination-bigotry-and/) [Eliot Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-engel/) > [... happily the Government of the United States... gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/happily-the-government-of-the-united-states-gives-to-bigotry-no/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“This book would be a great addition to a classroom library, especially considering its emphases on timeless and critical topics like discrimination and prejudice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lovejoy/this-book-would-be-a-great-addition-to-a-classroom-library-especially/) [Sharon Lovejoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lovejoy/) > [Pat Buchanan... was fired by MSNBC for doing nothing more than voicing his rock-solid conservative thoughts on the otherwise failing network... The real message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nugent/pat-buchanan-was-fired-by-msnbc-for-doing-nothing-more-than-voicing/) [Ted Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nugent/) > [Fear and Bigotry are bred fom isolation and ignorance. -Shekinah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fear-and-bigotry-are-bred-fom-isolation-and-ignorance-shekinah/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 661 Bigotry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigotry/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No civilization has a monopoly on tolerance; each is capable of bigotry.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amitava Kumar" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolerance-each-is-capable-of-bigotry/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bigotry" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolerance-each-is-capable-of-bigotry/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/amitava-kumar-5002_bigotry_no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolera_2249421.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/amitava-kumar-5002_bigotry_no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolera_2249421.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/amitava-kumar-5002_bigotry_no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolera_2249421.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No civilization has a monopoly on tolerance; each is capable of bigotry.” — Amitava Kumar", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amitava Kumar", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No civilization has a monopoly on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolerance-each-is-capable-of-bigotry/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/no-civilization-has-a-monopoly-on-tolerance-each-is-capable-of-bigotry/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```