“Reading is not walking on the words; it's grasping the soul of them.”

—  Paulo Freire

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Paulo Freire photo
Paulo Freire 115
educator and philosopher 1921–1997

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Rem tene, verba sequentur.

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Variant translations:
Stick to your subject, and words will follow.
Get hold of the matter, the words will come of themselves.
Lay hold of the subject, and the words will follow.
Keep to the subject and the words will come.
Grasp the point, the words will follow.
Seize the subject; the words will follow.
Stick to the point; the words will follow.
Master the facts; the words will follow.
Lay hold of the substance, the words will follow.
Hold fast to the matter, the words will come.
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Have a grip of your theme and the words will come.
Hold the idea and the words will follow.
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“Your eyes flashed fire into my soul. I immediately read the words of Dostoyevsky and Karl Marx, and in the words of Albert Schweitzer, I FANCY YOU!”

Eddie Izzard (1962) British stand-up comedian, actor and writer

Dress to Kill (1998)
Source: Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill
Context: I had to chat up girls, and I'd only tagged them before. I didn't have the verbal power to be able to say, "Susan, I saw you in the classroom today. As the sun came from behind the clouds, a burst of brilliant light caught your hair, it was haloed in front of me. You turned, your eyes flashed fire into my soul, I immediately read the words of Dostoevsky and Karl Marx, and in the words of Albert Schweitzer, 'I fancy you.' " But no! At 13, you're just going, " 'Ello, Sue. I saw you in the room... I've got legs, have you? Oh yeah... Do you like bread? I've got a French loaf. [mimes smacking her with the loaf and dashing off] Bye! (I love you!)"

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“It is with the soul that we grasp the essence of another person, not with the mind, not even with the heart.”

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Variant: It is with the soul that we grasp the essence of another human being, not with the mind, nor even with the heart.

Umberto Eco photo

“Rem tene, verba sequentur: grasp the subject, and the words will follow. This, I believe, is the opposite of what happens with poetry, which is more a case of verba tene, res sequenter: grasp the words, and the subject will follow.”

Umberto Eco (1932–2016) Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist

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“Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have found the soul walking upon my path." For the soul walks upon all paths.”

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Context: Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have found the soul walking upon my path." For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

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“I shall grasp the soul's skirt with my hand
and stamp on the world's head with my foot.”

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As quoted in Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew Poems (2001) by Bernard Lewis, p. 119
Context: I shall grasp the soul's skirt with my hand
and stamp on the world's head with my foot.
I shall trample Matter and Space with my horse,
beyond all Being I shall utter a great shout,
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Since I have neither sign nor name
I shall speak only of things unnamed and without sign.

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