--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It would be a contradiction in terms if…" description: "\"It would be a contradiction in terms if the oppressors not only defended but actually implemented a liberating education.\" — Paulo Freire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/paulo-freire-1551_contradiction_it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if_1859346.jpg" --- # It would be a contradiction in terms if the oppressors not… ![“It would be a contradiction in terms if the oppressors not only defended but actually implemented a liberating education.” quote by Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/paulo-freire-1551_contradiction_it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if_1859346.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/paulo-freire-1551_contradiction_it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if_1859346.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/paulo-freire-1551_contradiction_it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if_1859346.jpg) > “It would be a contradiction in terms if the oppressors not only defended but actually implemented a liberating education.” [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Liberating education cannot be defended by oppressors without contradicting its purpose, highlighting inherent paradoxes. **In simple terms:** Oppressors can't truly support freeing education. Key Takeaway Question who defines liberation. Themes education oppression paradox Mood critical hopeful Type theoretical activist When to use this quote - policy making - teaching - activism Key Concepts critical theory social justice Questions to Reflect On - How can education stay truly liberating? - What safeguards prevent co‑option? A Different Perspective Oppressors may co‑opt language. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Oppressors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppressors/) ## Related quotes > [“Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferals of information.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/liberating-education-consists-in-acts-of-cognition-not-transferals-of/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferrals of information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/liberating-education-consists-in-acts-of-cognition-not-transferrals/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [How can the oppressed, as divided, unauthentic beings, participate in developing the pedagogy of their liberation? Only as they discover themselves to be 'hosts'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/how-can-the-oppressed-as-divided-unauthentic-beings-participate-in/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/knowledge-is-power-information-is-liberating-education-is-the-premise/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [The behavior and reactions of the oppressed, which lead the oppressor to practice cultural invasion, should evoke from the revolutionary a different theory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-behavior-and-reactions-of-the-oppressed-which-lead-the-oppressor/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [But almost always, during the initial stage of the struggle, the oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors, or sub…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/but-almost-always-during-the-initial-stage-of-the-struggle-the/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [The behavior of the oppressed is a prescribed behavior, following as it does the guidelines of the oppressor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-behavior-of-the-oppressed-is-a-prescribed-behavior-following-as/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [“This violence, as a process, is perpetuated from generation to generation of oppressors, who become its heirs and are shaped by it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/this-violence-as-a-process-is-perpetuated-from-generation-to/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [In order to have the continued opportunity to express their "generosity" the oppressors must perpetuate injustice as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/in-order-to-have-the-continued-opportunity-to-express-their/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [The oppressors do not favor promoting the community as a whole, but rather selected leaders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-oppressors-do-not-favor-promoting-the-community-as-a-whole-but/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [In order for this struggle to have meaning, the oppressed must not, in seeking to regain their humanity (which is a way to create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/in-order-for-this-struggle-to-have-meaning-the-oppressed-must-not-in/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [The oppressors develop a series of methods precluding any presentation of the world as a problem and showing it rather as a fixed entity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-oppressors-develop-a-series-of-methods-precluding-any/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [“For the oppressors..to 'be' is to have and to be the class of the "haves".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/for-the-oppressors-to-be-is-to-have-and-to-be-the-class-of-the-haves/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [It is only the oppressed who, by freeing themselves, can free their oppressors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/it-is-only-the-oppressed-who-by-freeing-themselves-can-free-their/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [The oppressed find in the oppressors their model of 'manhood.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-oppressed-find-in-the-oppressors-their-model-of-manhood/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) ## More by Paulo Freire > [The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-teacher-is-of-course-an-artist-but-being-an-artist-does-not-mean/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [“if i am not in the world simply to adapt to it, but rather transform it, and if it is not possible to change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/if-i-am-not-in-the-world-simply-to-adapt-to-it-but-rather-transform/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [The earliest language was body language and, since this language is the language of questions, if we limit the questions, and if we only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-earliest-language-was-body-language-and-since-this-language-is/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [The behavior and reactions of the oppressed, which lead the oppressor to practice cultural invasion, should evoke from the revolutionary a different theory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-behavior-and-reactions-of-the-oppressed-which-lead-the-oppressor/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [“The fact that certain members of the oppressor class join the oppressed in their struggle for liberation, thus moving from one pole of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-fact-that-certain-members-of-the-oppressor-class-join-the/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [“When a word is deprived of its dimension of action,reflection automatically suffers as well and the word is changed into idle chatter, into verbalism,into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/when-a-word-is-deprived-of-its-dimension-of-action-reflection/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [A reader does not suddenly comprehend what is being read or studied, in a snap, miraculously. Comprehension needs to be worked forged, by those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/a-reader-does-not-suddenly-comprehend-what-is-being-read-or-studied/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [“If I do not love the world, if I do not love life, if I do not love people, I cannot enter into dialogue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/if-i-do-not-love-the-world-if-i-do-not-love-life-if-i-do-not-love/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [ \[Humans'\] capacity to intervene, to compare, to judge, to decide, to choose, to desist makes them capable of acts of greatness, of dignity, and,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/humans-capacity-to-intervene-to-compare-to-judge-to-decide-to-choose/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [If I am a pure product of genetic, cultural, or class determination, I have no responsibility for my action in the world and, therefore,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/if-i-am-a-pure-product-of-genetic-cultural-or-class-determination-i/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [“To begin always anew, to make, to reconstruct, and to not spoil, to refuse to bureaucratize the mind, to understand and to live life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/to-begin-always-anew-to-make-to-reconstruct-and-to-not-spoil-to/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [“The man or woman who proclaims devotion to the cause of liberation yet is unable to enter into communion with the people, whom he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-man-or-woman-who-proclaims-devotion-to-the-cause-of-liberation/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [One cannot expect positive results from an educational or political action program which fails to respect the particular view of the world held by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/one-cannot-expect-positive-results-from-an-educational-or-political/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [Any situation in which some men prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence;… to alienate humans from their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/any-situation-in-which-some-men-prevent-others-from-engaging-in-the/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [Educators need to know what happens in the world of the children with whom they work. They need to know the universe of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/educators-need-to-know-what-happens-in-the-world-of-the-children-with/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) [Explore all 223 Paulo Freire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) ## More Contradiction quotes > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/courage-is-almost-a-contradiction-in-terms-it-means-a-strong-desire/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-also-plausible-that-those-movements-with-the-greatest-inner/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/contradictions-in-human-character-are-one-of-its-most-consistent-notes/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [“The tiny features below, taken together with the gentle mass of Montblanc towering above them, the Vanoise glacier almost invisible in the shimmering distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/the-tiny-features-below-taken-together-with-the-gentle-mass-of/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [To exist (in mathematics), said Henri Poincaré, is to be free from contradiction. But mere existence does not guarantee survival. To survive in mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kac/to-exist-in-mathematics-said-henri-poincar-is-to-be-free-from/) [Mark Kac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kac/) > [“In these creations, life and symbolic value are not in contradiction: they intensify each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/in-these-creations-life-and-symbolic-value-are-not-in-contradiction/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I have never agreed with my other self wholly. The truth of the matter seems to lie between us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/i-have-never-agreed-with-my-other-self-wholly-the-truth-of-the-matter/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [“A truth is not necessary, because we negatively are not able to conceive the actual existence of the opposite thereof;but a truth is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-dabney/a-truth-is-not-necessary-because-we-negatively-are-not-able-to/) R.L. Dabney > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [Here I encounter the most popular fallacy of our times. It is not considered sufficient that the law should guarantee to every citizen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/here-i-encounter-the-most-popular-fallacy-of-our-times-it-is-not/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/that-the-sun-will-not-rise-tomorrow-is-no-less-intelligible-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The reflection of nature in man's thought must be understood not lifelessly but in the eternal process of movement, the arising of contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/the-reflection-of-nature-in-man-s-thought-must-be-understood-not/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) [Browse all 1,263 Contradiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It would be a contradiction in terms if the oppressors not only defended but actually implemented a liberating education.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paulo Freire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if-the-oppressors-not-only/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contradiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if-the-oppressors-not-only/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/paulo-freire-1551_contradiction_it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if_1859346.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/paulo-freire-1551_contradiction_it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if_1859346.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/paulo-freire-1551_contradiction_it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if_1859346.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It would be a contradiction in terms if the oppressors not only defended but actually implemented a…” — Paulo Freire", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paulo Freire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It would be a contradiction in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if-the-oppressors-not-only/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/it-would-be-a-contradiction-in-terms-if-the-oppressors-not-only/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```