What is the difference between "toleration" and "acceptance"?

Acceptance means that you accept your circumstances. You embrace them.

Tolerance is merely abiding the present circumstances.

Belief.

Tolerance is to stand something, to let something be, like an older sister who puts up with her baby brother.

Acceptance is to embrace something, to endorse it. To accept something is to respect it and to be willing to interact with it, rather then grudgingly letting it exist.

@ArtiqueFox I like that

Thanks. :)

I don’t understand the “forced” into part of your question. The two definitions are not mutually exclusive. You can either tolerate a situation and even accept it or you can tolerate a situation but you don’t have to accept it. It comes down to how you react to it and internalize or rationalize your involvement of that set of circumstances.

Tolerance is just barly able to stand someone,while acceptance is fully engaging them.

@Cruiser I can be forced, through laws and taxation, into tolerating the strange belief that human beings can change the temperature of an entire planet. I cannot be forced into accepting that the idea is true.

I guess so..

I think tolerance is grudgingly accepting something while acceptance is very openly accepting something. They are very close if put on a spectrum with their peers, but I think the end result/the feeling of whoever tolerates or accepts is different – the former does it because it is right, not because it feels right, while the latter does it because they feel it is right.

I think that is a good way of looking at it too cbloom8.

Tolerance is “live and let live.” Acceptance is “is there anything I can do to help?”

Toleration is when you can’t process lactose. Acceptance is when I don’t leave the room when you start farting.

Tolerating is all that I am legally required to do. Accepting is something that I choose to do.

@AlienBomber Good one

@josie I can’t argue with that reasoning at all and very similar for me to the results of the last presidential election.

@CharlieGirl – “Tolerance is just barly able to stand someone,while acceptance is fully engaging them.”

So, what your saying is, that at the moment we’re tolerating Iran, but soon we’ll be fully engaging them?

I do applolgise, I just couldn’t help it…......lol

I don’t agree with acceptance being ‘fully embracing’. I must accept my situation but I sure don’t embrace it.

@Pazza,I didn’t mean it in that way.I just meant that when you are in a social situation.Thanks for the laugh.:)

I tolerate these shoes until I can find an acceptable pair of new shoes.

I wear a 13, see, and finding shoes that are at once Size 13, comfortable, affordable, visually appealing, and endowed with reasonably good arch and ankle support is juuuust shy of impossible. Good support is so rare that I don’t even really look for it anymore.

@Nullo Good luck. Try doing it for high heels, too! It just never works… :-)

I tolerate my dog. he sometimes barks all the time.

I accept my wife’s personality and she accepts mine.

Torlerance and acceptance are two completely different things. Tolerance is something that you make an effort to accomplish and acceptance is basically embraceing the subject or product. When you accept something you will enjoy it. Some people while in a dispute say “okay thats fine I’ll accept that, I don’t like it , but I’ll accept it”. They are lying! They are going to tolerate it because they know they have to to get their end of the compromise. If they truely accepted it they would be cool with it and be excited about it. They wouldn’t have the alright whatever I’ll deal with it attitude. I hope my little description help answer your question.