Paulo Freire

Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.

At a certain point in their existential experience, the oppressed feel an irresistible attraction toward the oppressor and his way of life. Sharing this way of life becomes an overpowering aspiration.

Critical and liberating dialogue, which presupposes action, must be carried on with the oppressed at whatever the stage of their struggle for liberation. The content of that dialogue can and should vary in accordance with historical conditions and the level at which the oppressed perceive reality.

How can the oppressed, as divided, unauthentic beings, participate in developing the pedagogy of their liberation?

Those truly committed to liberation must reject the banking concept in its entirety, adopting instead a concept of women and men as conscious beings and consciousness as consciousness intent upon the world.

It's no sin to make a critical study of Brazil's reality. A small percentage own land. Most people don't.

At times, I have been criticized by some philosophers of education, who place me in postures that they classify pejoratively as 'revolutionary.' But I have had the satisfaction of being invited to work in societies making progressive efforts without wavering. They were changing, and so they called on me.

Manipulation, sloganizing, depositing, regimentation, and prescription cannot be components of revolutionary praxis, precisely because they are the components of the praxis of domination.

It is not systematic education which somehow molds society, but, on the contrary, society which, according to its particular structure, shapes education in relation to the ends and interests of those who control the power in that society.

The earliest language was body language and since this language is the language of questions if we limit the questions and if we only pay attention to or place values on spoken or written language then we are ruling out a large area of human language.

The trust of the people in the leaders reflects the confidence of the leaders in the people.

One of the methods of manipulation is to inoculate individuals with the bourgeois appetite for personal success.

There is, in fact, no teaching without learning. One requires the other.

The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom.

The intellectual activity of those without power is always characterized as non-intellectual.

Revolution is born as a social entity within the oppressor society.

Education must begin with the solution of the student-teacher contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students.

Just as it is important in Latin America to discuss ideas that come from North America, I think it is interesting for North Americans to discuss ideas that come from Latin America or Africa and do not insert themselves into capitalist interests.

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.

It is absolutely essential that the oppressed participate in the revolutionary process with an increasingly critical awareness of their role as subjects of the transformation.

Dialogue cannot exist however in the absence of a profound love for the world and its people.

The hope of remaking the world is indispensable in the struggle of oppressed men and women.

Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferrals of information.

Every society needs to examine itself in relation to other societies.

Education is freedom.

Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it.

I am an educator who thinks globally.

No oppressive order could permit the oppressed to begin to question: Why?

It would be a contradiction in terms if the oppressors not only defended but actually implemented a liberating education.

Dialogue cannot exist without humility.