Paulo Freire
119 quotes
Biography
"One cannot expect positive results from an educational or political action program which fails to respect the particular view of the world held by the people. Such a program constitutes cultural invasion, good intentions notwithstanding."
"Dehumanization, although a concrete historical fact, is not a given destiny but the result of an unjust order that engenders violence in the oppressors, which in turn dehumanizes the oppressed."
"The oppressors, who oppress, exploit, and rape by virtue of their power, cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves."
"The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors"
"They have no consciousness of themselves as persons or as members of an oppressed class."
"The oppressed find in the oppressors their model of 'manhood.'"
"The behavior of the oppressed is a prescribed behavior, following as it does the guidelines of the oppressor."
"The oppressor, who is himself dehumanized because he dehumanizes others, is unable to lead this struggle."
"This book will present some aspects of what the writer has termed the pedagogy of the oppressed, a pedagogy which must be forged with, not for, the oppressed (whether individuals or peoples) in the incessant struggle to regain their humanity."
"How can the oppressed, as divided unauthentic beings, participate in the pedagogy of their liberation?"
"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."
"Liberation is thus a childbirth, and a painful one."
"Discovering himself to be an oppressor may cause considerable anguish, but it does not necessarily lead to solidarity with the oppressed."
"True solidarity is found only in the plenitude of this act of love, and in its existentiality, in its praxis."
"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."
"It would be a contradiction in terms if the oppressors not only defended but actually implemented a liberating education."
"The former oppressors do not feel liberated. On the contrary, they genuinely consider themselves to be oppressed."
"Money is the measure of all things, and profit the primary goal. For the oppressors, what is worthwhile is to have more—always more—even at the cost of the oppressed having less or having nothing. For them, to be is to have."
"For them, having more is an inalienable right."
"Certain members of the oppressor class join the oppressed in their struggle for liberation."
"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."
"A real humanist can be identified more by his trust in the people, which engages him in their struggle."
"The oppressed want at any cost to resemble the oppressors."
"They call themselves ignorant and say the 'professor' is the one who has knowledge and to whom they should listen."
"Almost never do they realize that they, too, 'know things' they have learned in their relations with the world."