tolerance - Lycée cantonal de Porrentruy

LYCEE CANTONAL
PORRENTRUY
BACCALAUREATE 2005
ENGLISH (2 HOURS)
TOLERANCE
(written in 1943)
1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Everybody is talking about reconstruction. Our enemies have their schemes for a new order in
Europe, and we on our side talk of rebuilding London or England, or western civilization. Which
is all very well, but when I hear such talk, and see the architects sharpening their pencils and the
statesmen marking out their spheres of influence, and everyone getting down to the job, a very
famous text occurs to me: “ Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain who build it.”
Beneath the poetic imagery of these words lies a hard scientific truth, namely, unless you have a
sound1 attitude of mind, a right psychology, you cannot construct or reconstruct anything that will
endure2. The text is true, not only for religious people, but for workers whatever their outlook.
Surely the only sound foundation for civilization is a sound state of mind.
What though is the proper spirit? We agree that the basic problem is psychological, that there
must be a sound state of mind before diplomacy or economics or trade-conferences can function.
But what state of mind is sound? Here we may differ. Most people, when asked what spiritual
quality is needed to rebuild civilization, will reply “Love”. Men must love one another, they say;
nations must do likewise3, and then the series of catastrophes which is threatening to destroy us
will be checked4.
I disagree. Love is a great force in private life; it is indeed the greatest of all things: but love in
public affairs does not work. It has been tried again and again: by the Christian civilizations of the
Middle Ages, and also by the French Revolution, which reasserted the Brotherhood of Man. And
it has always failed. The idea that nations should love one another, or that a man in Portugal
should love a man in Peru of whom he has never heard – it is absurd, unreal, dangerous. It leads
us into dangerous and vague sentimentalism. “ Love is what is needed,” we chant, and then sit
back and the world goes on as before.
The fact is we can only love what we know personally. And we cannot know much. In public
affairs, in the rebuilding of civilization, something much less dramatic and emotional is needed,
namely, tolerance.
Tolerance is a very dull5 virtue. It is boring. Unlike love, it has always had a bad press. It is
negative. It merely6 means putting up with people, being able to stand things. No one has ever
written an ode to tolerance, or raised a statue to her. Yet this is the quality which will be most
needed after the war. This is the sound state of mind which we are looking for. This is the only
force which will enable different races and classes, nations and interests to settle down together to
the work of reconstruction.
The world is very full of people; it has never been so full before, and they are all tumbling7 over
each other. Most of them one doesn’t know and some of them one doesn’t like; doesn’t like the
colour of their skins or the shapes of their noses, or the way they blow them or don’t blow them,
or the way they talk or smell, or their clothes, or their fondness for jazz or dislike of jazz, and so
on.
1
cf. German « gesund »
to exist for a long time
3
the same
4
prevented from continuing
5
not exciting in any way
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simply
7
to fall without control
2
LYCEE CANTONAL
PORRENTRUY
40
45
BACCALAUREATE 2005
ENGLISH (2 HOURS)
Well, what is one to do? There are two solutions. One of them is the Nazi solution. If you don’t
like people, kill them, banish them, segregate them, and then strut8 up and down proclaiming that
you are the salt of the earth. The other way is much less thrilling, but it is on the whole the way of
the democracies, and I prefer it. If you don’t like people, put up with them as well as you can.
Don’t try to love them: you can’t, you’ll only strain9 yourself. But try to tolerate them.
On the basis of that tolerance a civilized future may be built. I can see no other foundation for the
post-war world. What it will most need is the negative virtues: not being touchy, irritable,
revengeful. I have lost all faith in positive militant ideals; they can so seldom be carried out
without thousands of human beings getting maimed10 or imprisoned.
E.M. FORSTER (1879-1970)
Part one: Comprehension
Answer each of the following questions in about 50 words, using your own words:
1. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain who build it” (l.5)
a) what is the general sense of this quotation?
b) why is it particularly well-chosen in this context of reconstruction after the war?
2. Is love always “a great force in private life? (l. 16) Comment on this statement.
3. Why is “vague sentimentalism” dangerous? (l.21)
4. In what way is tolerance a “negative virtue”? (l.27)
5. This essay was written more than 60 years ago. Is it still relevant today?
Part two: Translation
C’était un jour de semaine et Meaulnes pensa qu’il ferait mieux de se hâter vers le bâtiment
principal car, comme il avait terriblement faim, il se réjouissait de pouvoir enfin manger. Dans la
grande salle, où il avait coutume de prendre ses repas, une domestique mettait la table. Dès qu’il
se fut assis devant une des tasses, elle ne put s’empêcher de lui verser le café en disant : vous êtes
le premier, Monsieur, n’est-ce pas ? – Je veux seulement que vous me disiez à quelle heure partira
le bateau. – Pas avant une demi-heure, Monsieur, personne n’est descendu encore, fut la réponse.
Il continua donc de se balader en s’intéressant au lieu où il allait embarquer bientôt. Soudain, il
entendit des pas sur le sable. Plus ils se rapprochaient, plus il pensait savoir à qui ils
appartenaient. Cela ne sert à rien de paniquer, se dit-il en souriant. – C’étaient deux femmes, l’une
très vieille et mal vêtue, l’autre jeune et mince, dont la charmante robe plut à Meaulnes
immédiatement. – Que faites-vous là, leur demanda-t-il ? – Il y a plus de vingt minutes que nous
regardons le paysage, répondirent-elles doucement. Il eut envie de leur parler, mais il ne sut que
dire.
inspiré de Alain Fournier : Le Grand Meaulnes.
8
to walk in a proud way trying to look important
to injure yourself
10
to injure a person severely
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