Actually, the only direct path to anyone's understanding IS their own. The usual error they seem to make is that everyone else must necessarily hold the same understanding...or be wrong or worse yet, even evil! ;-)

And from there stem the usual lot of misunderstandings, religious wars, cultural wars, race wars, class wars, mercantile wars, etc.

A world of many understandings is good. Always has been. Tolerance allows for a world of many understandings.