Reply #9: A purist loves a thing for what it is. The thing itself is absolutely primary.

[patrice]

One who is intolerant is somewhat less a purist, because another's difference is more important than the thing the intolerant claims to love.

To a purist, as long as the object of her love exists independently from whatever differences that might polute it, that fact is more important than the hypothetical pollution, e.g. I can tolerate lots of bad poetry, because I know that it does not affect true poetry.