Friday September 18, 2009 at 11:10
“What do I do when I teach? I talk. I have no other way of making a living and I have no other dignity; I have no other way of transforming the world and no other influence on other people. Speaking is my work; language is my kingdom. My students, for the most part, will have another relation with things and with people; they will construct something with their hands; or perhaps they will speak and write in business, in stores, in administrative offices, but their language will not be the language which teaches. It will be part of an action, an order, a plan…. My speaking does not begin any action, it does not command any action which can be involved, directly or indirectly, in any production. I speak only to communicate to the younger generation the knowledge and the research of the older generation. This communication by speech of acquired knowledge and research in progress is my reason for being, my profession, and my honor. I am not jealous of those who are ‘in the real world,’ who have a ‘grip on reality,’ as are certain teachers who are unhappy with themselves. My reality and my life is the kingdom of words, of sentences, and of discourse itself.”
— Paul Ricoeur, 1955; quoted here.
