Tolerance Is The Source Of Everything

20th century Austrian writer Stefan Zweig excels in vivid and detailed psychological description, and for his ability to deeply observe and realistically express the human condition, he has been called the 'hunter of the soul'. At the same time, he is a famous pacifist who wrote many anti-war works during the two world wars and mobilized other European pacifist writers to oppose the hegemonic wars.Throughout his life, Zweig advocated and practiced tolerance. In his eyes, all humans at the basic level is equal and thus we have no reason to mock those who have been affected by fate or have personality defects; nor have we any right to force a free person. This makes Zweig a humanist. In the same spirit of tolerance, Zweig hopes that the people of the world may have a friendship like siblings. People from different countries and different races may understand each other and live in peace and friendship. Although reality often attacked this ideal, Zweig never gave up and continued to fight for his cause until the very last moment. This won Zweig the title of 'cosmopolitanist'. Cosmopolitanism and humanism runs throughout Zweig's works and throughout his whole life. This makes Zweig possess a significance beyond the history of literature, since tolerance is such a rarity in this world of ours.This thesis analyzes Zweig's humanist and cosmopolitanist spirit as demonstrated in his works and the various elements that influenced his cosmopolitanism. Particular reference will be given to the significance of ethnicity on his cosmopolitanism.