"The road to revolution involves openness to the people, not imperviousness to them; it involves communion with the people, not mistrust."

Paulo Freire Education See all quotes by Paulo Freire →

React to this quote

More by Paulo Freire

“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.”

“Scientific and humanist revolutionary leaders, on the other hand, cannot believe in the myth of the ignorance of the people.”

“The behavior of the oppressed is a prescribed behavior, following as it does the guidelines of the oppressor.”

“For people, 'here' signifies not merely a physical space, but also an historical space.”

“For cultural invasion to succeed, it is essential that those invaded become convinced of their intrinsic inferiority.”

“Certain members of the oppressor class join the oppressed in their struggle for liberation.”

Resonant Thoughts

"The trouble is, Richard, that you always think you can alter people. You say, Oh, yes, he's a little weak and I can't stand the way he hums to himself when he's shaving but when we live together I'll …"

— Christopher Wood (writer)

Music1941–2009

#change

"There's a big difference between having compassion and understanding for what somebody went through as a child, but that changes once you become an adult human being. Plenty of people have had horribl…"

— Mary L. Trump

Politics1965

#Human Nature

"When closed societies collapse but fail to make the transition to openness the reason need not be that they languish in anarchy or suffer a return to dictatorship. It may be that they adopt an illiber…"

— John Gray (philosopher)

Philosophy1948

#freedom

"White people in this country must be willing to accept black leadership, for that is the only protection that black people have to protect ourselves from racism rising again in this country. Racism in…"

— James Forman

Social Activism1928–2005

#leadership