93 quotes
A fact which is not denied but whose truths are rationalized loses its objective base. It ceases to be concrete and becomes a myth created in defense of the class of the perceiver.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
Individuals who were submerged in reality, merely feeling their needs, emerge from reality and perceive the causes of their needs.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
Someone who cannot acknowledge himself to be as mortal as everyone else still has a long way to go before he can reach the point of encounter."
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
To simply think about the people, as the dominators do, without any self-giving in that thought, to fail to think with the people, is a sure way to cease being revolutionary leaders.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
The best student in physics or mathematics, at school or university, is not one who memorizes formulae but one who is aware of the reason for them. For students, the more simply and docilely they receive the contents with which their teachers "fill" them in the name of knowledge, the less they are able to think and the more they become merely repetitive. The best philosophy student is not one who discourses, "ipsis verbis," on the philosophy of Plato, Marx, or Kant but one who thinks critically about their ideas and takes the risk of thinking too.
Extension or Communication (1974)
Looking at the past must only be a means of understanding more clearly what and who they are so that they can more wisely build the future.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
The task of revolutionary leaders is to pose as problems not only this myth, but all the other myths used by the oppressor elites to oppress.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
As long as they live in the duality in which to be is to to be like, and to be like is to be like the oppressor, this contribution is impossible.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
Attempting to liberate the oppressed without their reflective participation in the act of liberation is to treat them as objects that must be saved from a burning building.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
Our converts, on the other hand, truly desire to transform the unjust order; but because of their background they believe that they must be the executors of the transformation.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
It is essential for the oppressed to realize that when they accept the struggle for humanization they also accept, from that moment, their total responsibility for the struggle.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
In order for the oppressed to unite they must first cut the umbilical cord of magic and myth which binds them to the world of oppression; the unity which links them to each other must be of a different nature.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
Unfortunately, what happens to a greater or lesser degree in the various "worlds" into which the world is divided is that the ordinary person is crushed, diminished, converted into a spectator, maneuvered by myths which powerful social forces have created. These myths turn against him; they destroy and annihilate him. Tragically frightened, men fear authentic relationships and even doubt the possibility of their existence.
Education as the Practice of Freedom (1974)
Knowing, whatever its level, is not the act by which a subject transformed into an object docilely and passively accepts the contents others give or impose on him or her. Knowledge, on the contrary, necessitates the curious presence of subjects confronted with the world. It requires their transforming action on reality. It demands a constant searching. It implies invention and reinvention. It claims from each person a reflection on the very act of knowing.
Extension or Communication (1974)
Dialogue cannot exist without humility.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
Critical perception cannot be imposed.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
Trust is established by dialogue.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
This work deals with a very obvious truth: just as the oppressor, in order to oppress, needs a theory of oppressive action, so the oppressed, in order to become free, also need a theory of action.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
The correct method lies in dialogue. The conviction of the oppressed that they must fight in their liberation is not a gift bestowed by the revolutionary leadership, but the result of their own conscientização.
Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968)
It is not possible to remake this country, to democratize it, humanize it, make it serious, as long as we have teenagers killing people for play and offending life, destroying the dream, and making love unviable. If education alone cannot transform society, without it society cannot change either.
Pedagogia da indignação (Pedagogy of Indignation) (2000)