No less significant in the character of the Slavs is their inherent tendency toward tolerance and a love of peace. Insofar as the earliest history of this people sheds light upon their origins, customs, deeds, and wars, one finds no trace of the hallmarks of savagery, cruelty, or bestial brutality; rather, a certain quiet humility, gentleness, affability, and peacefulness have always been, and remain, their defining traits. While the Slavs have, on occasion, given brilliant demonstrations of valor and heroism, they have never—unprovoked—thirsted for bloodshed or devastation; instead, they have taken up arms only to defend themselves against the arrogance of others. Others may perhaps seek glory in tallying the number of assassinated princes and kings, the rivers of shed blood, or the multitude of ruined cities and plundered lands; the history of the Slavs, by contrast, speaks primarily of how many peoples they allowed to live in the undisturbed enjoyment of peace, and how many they enriched with the arts and crafts of domestic life and agriculture. When the situation demanded it, they fought—and continue to fight today—with courage and fearlessness; yet they do so not to force other free peoples under the yoke of slavery or serfdom, nor to murder, burn, or plunder, but rather to defend themselves, their freedom and rights, their rulers, their homeland, and their religion. From this characteristic—which elevates the Slav to the status of a true "citizen of the earth" in the nobler sense of the term—one can explain why he never sought the violent subjugation, extermination, or forced assimilation of neighboring peoples; on the contrary, he drew closer to them—and with greater trust—than was perhaps prudent, given the need to preserve his own national identity.

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