Who Said "tolerance is the last virtue of a depraved society"? Was it really Aristotle?

Question

I'm having a hard time tracking down a reliable source which attributes this to Aristotle.

Answer 1

Good on you for checking.

No, this looks like a classic example of fake attribution to add weight to a modern statement - in this case, an anti-liberal slogan circulating on the right-wing / religious web circuit.

It appears in a number of variants, such as "Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society", but a thorough look in Google Books finds nothing even like it in any works of Aristotle.

The "tolerance is the last virtue of a depraved society" version seems to be attributed to the modern evangelical minister D James Kennedy.

Answer 2

Ray G: Whether one is a right wing nut case or an 'Aristotle', the quote is spot on and, even if O.J. Simpson said it, we don't have to look far for the "pudding" to see that it holds up. FSM

Answer 3

There are many quotes with wrong attribution, which never-the-less have the ring of truth.

Answer 4

It takes 10 seconds for the YahooAnswers webpage to load for me to be able to click on the [add your answer] box. thus, is my laptop slow?