People From Rio De Janeiro

"Today, Thiago Silva is the best defender in the world."

"I have worked with [Carlos] Gamarra, with [Elías] Figueroa, but Thiago is better than the both of them."

"In Serie A the best are Chiellini and Bonucci. They always know what to do. The best in the world is Thiago Silva."

"For me, Thiago has always been a reference, he is a born competitor. I consider him one of the best defenders in the world."

"I have the opportunity to see what a great player he is. I already had him as a reference when I was younger. Today, that's even more the case after having met him. He's really a leader and he works a lot. He always wants the best for his teammates by thinking a lot about the collective before thinking about him."

"Messi is a very quick and technically gifted player. When you face him you have to make decisions in an instant. When he approaches you, you have to make the sign of the cross and pray that everything will be alright."

"I learned a lot with Paolo Maldini who helped me with defensive positioning and the importance of respecting tactical schemes."

"I am very happy to be considered as one of the best defenders in the world and to be mentioned alongside great footballers. It's a great satisfaction to have reached this level at this moment in my career. I know that things will get tougher soon, but I will continue to work hard to be able to maintain this level of performance."

"Thiago has the physical and technical characteristics of a champion."

"Thiago Silva will extend my life as a central defender."

"Certainly, Thiago shows that security that characterised Franco [Baresi] when he used to play. For one reason or another, when Baresi came off during the break or during the game, we all felt his loss and I think the same thing is happening now with Thiago, because he gives so much security at the back."

"He’s very elegant, he commits few fouls because he’s always first to every ball and this is an important gift. He’s also fast and has good technique and these are important skills for a defender. Italian football puts players to the test and he immediately showed he was up to the task and ready to play for Milan, at the San Siro. Playing with the kind of continuity he had this season proves he really belongs to the elite."

"This year, Thiago had an excellent season playing at Baresi’s level, but Franco had several fantastic seasons, not only one or two, but 15 or 16 and I think that at the moment this is the only difference between the two."

"I think that Thiago Silva is the best defender in the world. It is incredible how good he really is. Thiago Silva is part of a new generation of phenomenal players who are perhaps born once every 100 years."

"Paolo Maldini who is here with us tonight was a player at the level of Franco Baresi, but Thiago is up there too."

"Thiago Silva is my heir."

"A player like Thiago Silva is impossible to replace."

"It’s difficult to identify where he can still improve. He has already proven to have everything."

"It is not blasphemous to compare Thiago Silva to Franco Baresi. With all due respect to Franco, who was a sacred monster, but Thiago Silva is just as phenomenal."

"You can't say 'I'll sell Silva and buy a similar player'. There are no similar players around, only worse ones."

"In the world, today, Thiago Silva is the only defender who can change the outcome of a match."

"There are many good defenders that I have played against, but the most difficult one would have to be Thiago Silva."

"The hardest defender I have ever come up against? The guy at AC Milan, Thiago Silva. He's absolutely faultless."

"I would say Thiago Silva from Milan is the best defender in the world."

"At 28, he has a lot of experience and he helps us a lot. He is also a brilliant player - in my opinion he is PSG's best player - and the way he brings the ball out of defence is superb. He's even played a few games in midfield, which shows just what a good footballer he is. For me, he's the best defender in the world."

"I can say that Thiago Silva has no rival in his position. He is by far the best defender in the world. It’s a compliment for me to be compared to him."

"Thiago Silva is currently the reference in my position, so it's flattering (to be compared to him)."

"For me, Thiago Silva is one of the best defenders of all time. We can talk about Baresi, Maldini, and Beckenbauer. They won a lot; we cannot discuss the honours they have won. But Silva's quality, his personality, his tranquility [on the pitch]. Honestly, I've never seen a defender as complete as him."

"Simply the best defender in the world. Whenever he is on the pitch, his presence reassures the others, from the goalkeeper to the attackers."

"I have played with many fantastic central defenders — Thuram, Cannavaro, Piqué, Puyol — but Silva is like all of them put together."

"He makes it look easy. It was not for nothing that PSG spent €50 million [actually €42 million] to secure his services. He is a defender who imposes his strength, his heading, his anticipation. He is 'Mr. Clean' and in addition to that, he is a real leader!"

"I believe in democracy, but in real democracy, not a phony democracy in which just powerful people can speak. For me, in a democracy everyone speaks."

"It is forbidden to walk on the grass. It is not forbidden to fly over the grass."

"In its most archaic sense, theatre is the capacity possessed by human beings—and not by animals—to observe themselves in action. Humans are capable of seeing themselves in the act of seeing, of thinking their emotions, of being moved by their thoughts. They can see themselves here and imagine themselves there; they can see themselves today and imagine themselves tomorrow. This is why humans are able to identify (themselves and others) and not merely to recognise."

"The Theatre of the Oppressed is theatre in this most archaic application of the word. In this usage, all human beings are Actors (they act!) and Spectators (they observe!)."

"Theatre is a form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it."

"When does a session of The Theatre of the Oppressed end? Never — since the objective is not to close a cycle, to generate a catharsis, or to end a development. On the contrary, its objective is to encourage autonomous activity, to set a process in motion, to stimulate transformative creativity, to change spectators into protagonists. And it is precisely for these reasons that the Theatre of the Oppressed should be the initiator of changes the culmination of which is not the aesthetic phenomenon but real life."

"In truth the Theatre of the Oppressed has no end, because everything which happens in it must extend into life….The Theatre of the Oppressed is located precisely on the frontier between fiction and reality – and this border must be crossed. If the show starts in fiction, its objective is to become integrated into reality, into life. Now in 1992, when so many certainties have become so many doubts, when so many dreams have withered on exposure to sunlight, and so many hopes have become as many deceptions – now that we are living through times and situations of great perplexity, full of doubts and uncertainties, now more than ever I believe it is time for a theatre which, at its best, will ask the right questions at the right times. Let us be democratic and ask our audiences to tell us their desires, and let us show them alternatives. Let us hope that one day – please, not too far in the future – we’ll be able to convince or force our governments, our leaders, to do the same; to ask their audiences – us – what they should do, so as to make this world a place to live and be happy in – yes, it is possible – rather than just a vast market in which we sell our goods and our souls. Let’s hope. Let’s work for it!"

"Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see a dance piece where the dancers danced in the first act and in the second showed the audience how to dance? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see a musical where in the first act the actors sang and in the second we all sang together?...This is...how artists should be—we should be creators and also teach the public how to be creators, how to make art, so that we may all use that art together."

"Theatre has nothing to do with buildings or other physical constructions. Theatre — or theatricality — is the capacity, this human property which allows man to observe himself in action, in activity. The self-knowledge thus acquired allows him to be the subject (the one who observes) of another subject (the one who acts). It allows him to imagine variations of his action, to study alternatives. Man can see himself in the act of seeing, in the act of acting, in the act of feeling, the act of thinking. Feel himself feeling, think himself thinking."

"Biographies smack of the end, the final utterances. Mission accomplished. I, by contrast, am always at the start of some new path or other. I want more. More, more. I am given to excess. It would be awkward to talk about myself: in what I do, the important thing is the deed, not the doer. When all is said and done, who am I? What use am I?"

"We must all do theatre – to find out who we are, and to discover who we could become."

"To resist, it is not enough to say No – it is necessary to desire!"

"When we look beyond appearances, we see oppressors and oppressed people, in all societies, ethnic groups, genders, social classes and casts; we see an unfair and cruel world. We have to create another world because we know it is possible. But it is up to us to build this other world with our hands and by acting on the stage and in our own life."

"We are all actors: being a citizen is not living in society, it is changing it."

"we, the kids and I, have fallen in love with theater's power to teach. Truth. Or lies. You choose, as Boal reminds us."

"Quando durmo muito, não faço gols, por isso gosto de ficar na noite."

"Deus abençoou os pés desse cidadão, mas se esqueceu do resto e principalmente da boca, porque quando ele fala só sai besteira, ou melhor: só sai m..."

"A corte agora está contente. O rei, o príncipe e o bobo."

"Não estou indo para o trabalho, mas eles também não estão me pagando. E a amizade continua..."