"The basic thing, starting from the initial perception of these nuclei of contradictions (which include the principal contradiction of society as a larger epochal unit) is to study the inhabitants' awareness of these contradictions."

"Some may think that to affirm dialogue—the encounter of women and men in the world in order to transform the world—is naively and subjectively idealistic. There is nothing, however, more real or concrete than people in the world and with the world, than humans with other humans."

"Those who are served by the present limit-situation regard the untested feasibility as a threatening limit-situation which must not be allowed to materialize, and act to maintain the status quo."

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

"Thematic investigation thus becomes a common striving towards awareness of reality and towards self-awareness, which makes this investigation a starting point for the educational process or for cultural action of a liberating character."

"The unfinished character of human beings and the transformational character of reality necessitate that education be an ongoing activity."

"The dialogical character of education as the practice of freedom does not begin when the teacher-student meets with the students-teachers in pedagogical situation, but rather when the former first asks herself or himself what she or he will dialogue with the latter about."

"The revolutionary's role is to liberate, and to be liberated, with the people—not to win them over."

"Reflection upon situationality is reflection about the very condition of existence: critical thinking by means which people discover each other to be 'in a situation.'"

"It is when the majorities are denied their right to participate in history as Subjects that they become dominated and alienated."

"The atmosphere of the home is prolonged in school, where students soon discover that (as in the home) in order to achieve some satisfaction they must adapt to the precepts which have been set from above. One of these precepts is not to think."

"Dialogue cannot exist without humility."

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

"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.""

"A deepened consciousness of their situation leads people to apprehend that situation as an historical reality susceptible of transformation.""

"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. They must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making and replace it with the posing of the problems of human beings in their relations with the world."

"Education as the exercise of domination stimulates the credulity of students, with the ideological intent (often not perceived by educators) of indoctrinating them to adapt to the world of oppression."

"Faith in people is an a priori requirement for dialogue."

"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."

"Problem-posing education affirms men and women as beings in the process of becoming."

"Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication. If it is true that thought has meaning only when generated by action upon the world, the subordination of students to teachers becomes impossible."

"It is not surprising that the banking concept of education regards men as adaptable, manageable beings."

"Implicit in the banking concept is the assumption of a dichotomy between human beings and the world: a person is merely in the world, not with the world or with others; the individual is spectator, not re-creator."

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

"Through dialogue, the teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist and a new term emerges: teacher-student with students-teachers."

"Founding itself upon love, humility, and faith, dialogue becomes a horizontal relationship of which mutual trust between the dialoguers is a logical consequence."

"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."

"The oppressed want at any cost to resemble the oppressors."

"Almost never do they realize that they, too, 'know things' they have learned in their relations with the world."

"It is necessary to trust in the oppressed and in their ability to reason."

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

"For them, having more is an inalienable right."

"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."

"They call themselves ignorant and say the 'professor' is the one who has knowledge and to whom they should listen."

"Critical and liberating dialogue, which presupposes action, must be carried on with the oppressed at whatever the stage of their struggle for liberation."

"In the banking concept of education, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing."

"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."

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

"Yet only through communication can human life hold meaning."

"Education as the exercise of domination stimulates the credulity of the students."

"In sum: banking theory and practice, as immobilizing and fixating forces, fail to acknowledge men and women as historical beings; problem-posing theory and practice take the people's historicity as their starting point."

"Indeed, some revolutionaries brand as innocents, dreamers, or even reactionaries; those who would challenge this educational practice. But one does not liberate people by alienating them. Authentic liberation - the process of humanization - is not another deposit to be made in men."

"In problem-posing education, people develop their power to perceive critically the way they existin the world with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation."

"The former oppressors do not feel liberated. On the contrary, they genuinely consider themselves to be oppressed."