Rather than try to follow the self-centred Golden Rule of treating others as you would like to be treated, or the Silver Rule of not doing ...
Rather than try to follow the self-centred Golden Rule of treating others as you would like to be treated, or the Silver Rule of not doing to others what you would not want done to you, or even the unknowable Platinum Rule of treating others the way they want to be treated, follow the Practical Rule to build sustainable relationships and community-wide cooperation.
To have successful cooperation and peaceful coexistence in the community, we must tolerate, even we should brook one another’s perceived or actual weaknesses and imperfections — as we see them, so many — when they do not cause us harm directly, and instead of lecturing one another how to be better according to our perception, we should encourage each other toward what we consider right by the demonstration through the example of our own behavior.
If, however, we find that the other person’s behavior — in words or deeds — causes direct harm in any form for us, whether the act is presumed to be intentional or, in reality, actually it is unintentional, let's simply point out and articulate the impact that behavior has on you and what feelings and emotions it evokes in you before resorting to passive avoidance or active defense — in the hope that these measures may not become, and usually do not become, necessary.
Finally, after having done so — primarily to be able to continue to cooperate constructively, but also for the sake of our own inner peace — try to forgive the other; that is, genuinely forget the grievances, whether perceived or real, that hold against the other.
And, most importantly, we should not merely be aware of these behavioral guidelines, but strive to truly accept them and consistently include them in our actions, because, ultimately, we are the only ones who can determine our own behavior.
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