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Synonyms

Live and let live

Cultural  

  1. We should live the life we choose and allow others to do the same.

live and let live Idioms  

  1. Show tolerance for those different from yourself. For example, I'm not going to tell my sister what to do—live and let live, I say. [First half of 1600s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

George Kennan, the American diplomat in Moscow, sends what is known as the long telegram, saying there can be no modus vivendi, there can be no live and let live with Moscow.

From Slate • Mar. 31, 2022

“For my personal viewpoint, I think the idea of live and let live is alive and well,” he says.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 6, 2022

How can so many give up their one precious life to cruelty, rather than just take the easier and humane path of "live and let live?"

From Salon • Sep. 2, 2021

His eldest daughter Anne Ferguson said the family had been brought up to "live and let live".

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2021

Why couldn’t people just live and let live?

From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.