Tolerance is a fair, objective, and permissive attitude towards those whose opinions, beliefs, practices, racial or ethnic origins, etc., differ from ones own. It is the capacity to endure pain or hardship, endurance, fortitude, and stamina. Tolerance can be defined as a set of social or political practices and attitudes. It is the willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from ones own.

Tolerance is usually a conscious effort from the individual, and it can be community, state, personal, or national. It is a virtue that can be exemplified in various contexts, such as parents tolerating certain behavior of their children, a friend tolerating the weaknesses of another, a monarch tolerating dissent, a church tolerating homosexuality, a state tolerating a minority religion, and a society tolerating deviant behavior.

Tolerance has been criticized for undermining itself via moral relativism, which means that either the claim self-referentially undermines itself or it provides us with no compelling reason to believe it. Herbert Marcuse, in the book "A Critique of Pure Tolerance," argued that "pure tolerance" that permits all can favor totalitarianism and tyranny of the majority, and insisted on "repressive tolerance" against them.

In summary, tolerance is a fair, objective, and permissive attitude towards those whose opinions, beliefs, practices, racial or ethnic origins, etc., differ from ones own. It is a virtue that can be exemplified in various contexts, and it can be community, state, personal, or national.