Given this state of affairs, the tolerant must assume that these differences will remain permanent features of the social landscape they share with the tolerated, as will the endurance they must offer to maintain it. And yet how can they endure endlessly when doing so puts the society they love at permanent risk of being transformed by the differences they despise? This nagging thought generates fear, if not today, then certainly tomorrow, which in turn tempts the tolerant to abandon their virtue and forsake its endurance. Such is the likely outcome of those who attempt toleration’s long and difficult act without a full complement of the virtues. If, by contrast, their tolerance comes packaged with perseverance—with the habitual capacity to moderate their fear of toleration^ consequences—then it is likely that they will persist in their endurance as long as objectionable difference divides and tolerance is due.As with patience, there is a temptation to guard against as we assign perseverance to the tolerant. We are tempted to say that the tolerant must persevere principally because of the long delay in accomplishing the good they hope to secure with their act. But, as before, this is a temptation to avoid.