--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you're talking about coexisting and…" description: "\"If you're talking about coexisting and tolerance then you have to live by example, and you can't have shiny people all the time everywhere, which is wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/m-i-a-3418_live-by_if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-t_1966207.jpg" --- # If you're talking about coexisting and tolerance then you… ![“If you're talking about coexisting and tolerance then you have to live by example, and you can't have shiny people all the time everywhere, which is what breeds that sort of thinking - this is better than this, that is better than that.” quote by M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/m-i-a-3418_live-by_if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-t_1966207.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/m-i-a-3418_live-by_if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-t_1966207.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/m-i-a-3418_live-by_if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-t_1966207.jpg) > “If you're talking about coexisting and tolerance then you have to live by example, and you can't have shiny people all the time everywhere, which is what breeds that sort of thinking - this is better than this, that is better than that.” [M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tolerance requires lived example, not abstract ideals; constant perfection breeds judgment, so real, imperfect coexistence is essential. **In simple terms:** Live the tolerance you preach; perfection isn’t realistic. Key Takeaway Practice authentic coexistence and avoid idealized standards. Themes tolerance coexistence authenticity social harmony Mood reflective empathetic Type practical ethical When to use this quote - community building - diverse workplaces - public discourse - personal relationships Key Concepts ethical practice social psychology conflict resolution Questions to Reflect On - What everyday actions demonstrate genuine tolerance? - How do you handle imperfect interactions? A Different Perspective Idealized perfection can create exclusionary standards. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coexisting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coexisting-717588/) [Coexisting Tolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coexisting-tolerance-3273688/) [Live by](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-by/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Talking Coexisting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talking-coexisting-3273689/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Tolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerance/) [Tolerance Live](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerance-live-588177/) ## Related quotes > [“You can see I have no will to stay away from you, no tolerance to live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-lance/you-can-see-i-have-no-will-to-stay-away-from-you-no-tolerance-to-live/) [Amanda Lance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-lance/) > [If all people are encouraged to actually see who they're coexisting with, or even if they're not coexisting with other people.It's like to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-seymour-hoffman/if-all-people-are-encouraged-to-actually-see-who-they-re-coexisting/) [Philip Seymour Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-seymour-hoffman/) > [I think coexisting with another life form is a very rich experience. 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White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-h-white-2/) > [He who has once begun to live by rapine always finds reasons for taking what is not his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/he-who-has-once-begun-to-live-by-rapine-always-finds-reasons-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Don't be afraid of failure, be afraid of not trying in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-forleo/don-t-be-afraid-of-failure-be-afraid-of-not-trying-in-the-first-place/) [Marie Forleo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-forleo/) > [A warrior, or any man for that matter, cannot possibly wish he were somewhere else; a warrior because he lives by challenge, an ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/a-warrior-or-any-man-for-that-matter-cannot-possibly-wish-he-were/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [We make our fortunes and we call them fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/we-make-our-fortunes-and-we-call-them-fate/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [One of the noblest words in our language is "grace," defined as "unearned blessing." We live by grace far more than by anything else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-elton-trueblood/one-of-the-noblest-words-in-our-language-is-grace-defined-as-unearned/) [D. Elton Trueblood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-elton-trueblood/) ## More by M.I.A > [I'd be very controversial if I said why, and I don't do controversial anymore. That's too passé. So last year. Being controversial is boring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/i-d-be-very-controversial-if-i-said-why-and-i-don-t-do-controversial/) [M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) > [You have to constantly redefine who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/you-have-to-constantly-redefine-who-you-are/) [M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) > [That's what I miss, being a real human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/that-s-what-i-miss-being-a-real-human/) [M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) > [Retirement: a brand new beginning! 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I leave loads of space open, and people don't like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/i-m-still-working-out-my-opinions-it-s-always-a-question-mark-i-leave/) [M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) > [Basically, when I went to school in Sri Lanka from age five onward, the classes there were sometimes sorted into a hierarchy of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/basically-when-i-went-to-school-in-sri-lanka-from-age-five-onward-the/) [M.I.A](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) [Explore all 131 M.I.A quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/) ## More Live by quotes > [One of the noblest words in our language is "grace," defined as "unearned blessing." We live by grace far more than by anything else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-elton-trueblood/one-of-the-noblest-words-in-our-language-is-grace-defined-as-unearned/) [D. Elton Trueblood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-elton-trueblood/) > [We make our fortunes and we call them fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/we-make-our-fortunes-and-we-call-them-fate/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [A warrior, or any man for that matter, cannot possibly wish he were somewhere else; a warrior because he lives by challenge, an ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/a-warrior-or-any-man-for-that-matter-cannot-possibly-wish-he-were/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [Don't be afraid of failure, be afraid of not trying in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-forleo/don-t-be-afraid-of-failure-be-afraid-of-not-trying-in-the-first-place/) [Marie Forleo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-forleo/) > [He who has once begun to live by rapine always finds reasons for taking what is not his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/he-who-has-once-begun-to-live-by-rapine-always-finds-reasons-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Aviators live by hours, not by days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-white-2/aviators-live-by-hours-not-by-days/) [T. H. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-h-white-2/) > [All professionals, whether physicists, economists or musicians, live by and for peer judgment, even when they are being paid by people who cannot tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hobsbawm/all-professionals-whether-physicists-economists-or-musicians-live-by/) [Eric Hobsbawm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hobsbawm/) > [Life is like the dice that, falling, still show a different face. So life, though it remains the same, is always presenting different aspects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-sanchez/life-is-like-the-dice-that-falling-still-show-a-different-face-so/) [Alexis Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-sanchez/) > [The principles you live by create the world you live in; if you change the principles you live by, you will change your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaine-lee-pardoe/the-principles-you-live-by-create-the-world-you-live-in-if-you-change/) [Blaine Lee Pardoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaine-lee-pardoe/) > [I have become convinced, through my studies, that the only way to achieve a safe, just and viable world is to live by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-have-become-convinced-through-my-studies-that-the-only-way-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [At the end day, the only thing I owe the public is great entertainment, to respect my fans everywhere I go and to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bow-wow/at-the-end-day-the-only-thing-i-owe-the-public-is-great-entertainment/) [Bow Wow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bow-wow/) > [They say that a cat, if it falls from a window and hits its nose, can lose its sense of smell and then, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/they-say-that-a-cat-if-it-falls-from-a-window-and-hits-its-nose-can/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [The glory of the world is transitory, and we should not measure our lives by it, but by the choice we make to follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-glory-of-the-world-is-transitory-and-we-should-not-measure-our/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [If there is any realm where distinction is especially difficult, it is the realm of childhood memories, the realm of beloved images harbored in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/if-there-is-any-realm-where-distinction-is-especially-difficult-it-is/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Man cannot live by bread alone. Every once in awhile he needs a salad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/man-cannot-live-by-bread-alone-every-once-in-awhile-he-needs-a-salad/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) [Browse all 877 Live by quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-by/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you're talking about coexisting and tolerance then you have to live by example, and you can't have shiny people all the time everywhere, which is what breeds that sort of thinking - this is better than this, that is better than that.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "M.I.A" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-tolerance-then-you-have-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Live by" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-tolerance-then-you-have-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/m-i-a-3418_live-by_if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-t_1966207.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/m-i-a-3418_live-by_if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-t_1966207.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/m-i-a-3418_live-by_if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-t_1966207.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you're talking about coexisting and tolerance then you have to live by example, and you can't have shiny…” — M.I.A", "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": "M.I.A", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-i-a/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you're talking about coexisting and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-tolerance-then-you-have-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-i-a/if-you-re-talking-about-coexisting-and-tolerance-then-you-have-to/#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 } } ] } ```