Zoroaster — "For he who looks upon evil with tolerance is no other than evil himself."
For he who looks upon evil with tolerance is no other than evil himself.
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More from Zoroaster
"I am the one who seeks to establish the kingdom of Ahura Mazda on Earth."
"I am the one who seeks to enlighten the world with truth."
"He who strives for good, him Ahura Mazda will reward."
"The wise man chooses good. The very wise man chooses good and then immediately finds a comfortable rock to sit on."
"The path of the righteous is not always easy, but it is always right. And sometimes, it involves a lot of sheep. You wouldn't believe the amount of sheep."
About Zoroaster (c. 1500-1000 BCE (debated))
Iranian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism, the first major religion of cosmic dualism between good (Ahura Mazda) and evil (Angra Mainyu). Closely associated with The Buddha (near-contemporary Eastern moral-cosmological revolutionary). For an intellectual contrast, see Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher of 'beyond good and evil' — Nietzsche appropriated Zarathustra's name for Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883) precisely to invert the original's moral cosmology — the historical Zoroaster founded the good-versus-evil framework Nietzsche's character announces the end of.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Staying silent or neutral when you see wrongdoing makes you just as guilty as the person doing it. Tolerance of evil is not kindness or open-mindedness; it is complicity. If you watch cruelty, injustice, or corruption happen and choose not to oppose it, you effectively endorse it. Moral neutrality in the face of harm is itself a moral failure, and your inaction shapes who you are.
Relevance to Zoroaster
Zoroaster built his entire religion around the cosmic battle between Ahura Mazda (truth, good) and Angra Mainyu (the lie, evil), demanding that every human actively choose a side. His core ethical triad, Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds, required participation, not passive virtue. As a reforming prophet who rejected the polytheistic priests of his day, he personally modeled confrontation of evil rather than accommodation.
The era
Zoroaster lived in Bronze Age Iran, likely between 1500 and 1000 BCE, amid tribal raiding, cattle-theft cults, and a polytheism he saw as morally corrupt. Surrounding religions treated gods as transactional and morality as ritual compliance. By framing existence as an urgent dualistic war demanding individual moral choice, Zoroaster introduced a revolutionary ethical framework that later shaped Judaism, Christianity, and Islam's ideas of heaven, hell, and personal accountability.
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