“Mutual understanding between human beings, whether they are close or strangers, is henceforth vital for human relations to leave behind their barbaric state of incomprehension. Therefore, there is a need to study misunderstanding from its roots, its modalities and its effects. This study is all the more necessary because it focuses not on the symptoms but on the causes of racism, xenophobia and contempt.

At the same time, it constitutes one of the surest foundations of education for peace, to which we are linked by essence and vocation.

Communication is triumphant, the planet is crisscrossed with networks, cell phones, modems, the Internet. However, general misunderstanding is still the rule. Of course, we have witnessed tremendous progress in mutual understanding. But the misunderstanding seems to progress even further. The understanding problem has become crucial for human beings, and minimizing it must be one of the aims of future education.”

“… In fact, the circuitry of the emotional brain often overlaps with that of the rational, thinking brain. I think there’s a strong message in this: emotion works with cognition in an integrated and ongoing way to allow us to navigate the world of relationships, work and spiritual growth. When emotion energizes us, we are better able to focus on finding a new job, expanding our thinking, creatively integrating diverse information, and maintaining our interest in a task we want to persevere in. In these cases, the emotion is not interrupting or disturbing, as the 1970s view held; she is a facilitator. A feeling permeates virtually everything we do. […] There is no clear and distinct dividing line between emotion and other mental processes; they get mixed up…”

“In today’s world, it’s not enough to be smart, savvy, and prepared to compete. You have to be calm and empathetic and persist in the face of frustrations to be able to live well in love, be happy with your family, and succeed in the job market.”

“A baby born today will be around 30 years old in 2050 … What should we teach that baby that will help it survive and flourish … get a job, understand what is going on around it, and navigate the maze of life? … Most important of all will be the ability to cope with change, to learn new things, and to preserve mental balance in unfamiliar situations.”

“Current education is a total failure because it has overemphasized technique. By overemphasizing technique, we destroy man. Cultivating ability and efficiency without understanding life, without having a comprehensive perception of ways of thinking and desiring, will only make us more and more ruthless, which is to engender wars and compromise our physical security.
The exclusive cultivation of technique has produced scientists, mathematicians, bridge builders, conquerors of space; but do they understand the total process of life? Can any specialist experience life as a whole? Not until he stops being an expert.”

“Emotional education aims to develop emotional skills and well-being. It assumes that well-being is one of the basic goals of personal and social life. Happiness is often sought through erroneous paths that can lead to risky behaviors, such as drug use. Science-based education for wellness should be seen as essential for the holistic development of students.”

St. Augustine, one of the most important theologians and philosophers of the first centuries of the Christian era. He said, “Pride is the source of all weaknesses, because it is the source of all vices.”

Alain Ehrenberg, a French sociologist of today, reflects on the society focused on performance in the face of the need for fulfillment and autonomy.

Aristotle, considered the founder of ethics as a discipline of philosophy, one of the most important Greek philosophers in the fourth century. He stated, “Doubt is the principle of wisdom.”

– Spinoza, seventeenth-century Dutch thinker Defender of freedom of thought and expression. He said, “Not to laugh, not to complain, not to hate but to understand.”

Han, contemporary South Korean philosopher and essayist, professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and author of essays critical of technology and contemporary society.

Cora Coralina, Brazilian poet and short story writer, strong and libertarian woman, had her first book published in 1965, when she was almost 76 years old.

Epicurus, Greek philosopher of the Hellenistic period, considered the “Prophet of Pleasure” and the “Apostle of Friendship”.

– Nietzsche, nineteenth-century Prussian philosopher, cultural critic, poet and composer He stated, “He who has a strong why’ to live, endures, practically, any ‘how.'”

Hannah Arendt, of Jewish origin, one of the most influential German thinkers of the twentieth century. He said: “The most radical revolutionary becomes a conservative the day after the revolution…”

Kant, philosopher, professor of Physics, Anthropology, Logic and Metaphysics of the eighteenth century. He said, “Man is nothing but what education makes of him.”

Sartre, the twentieth-century French existentialist philosopher, writer and critic, claimed that in the human condition existence precedes essence. “Man first exists, then defines himself.”

– Karl Popper, twentieth-century Austrian philosopher, naturalized British He said: “It is not possible to argue rationally with someone who would rather kill us than be convinced by our arguments.”

Gandhi, political and spiritual leader of India in the twentieth century. He said, “Be the change you want to see in the world yourself.”

– Heidegger, twentieth-century German philosopher and professor He said: “What we hear ‘first’ are not noises of complex sounds, but the creaking wagon, the motorcycle.”

– Montaigne, sixteenth-century French humanist philosopher and writer He said: “One may miss the good times, but one should not run away from the present.”

Nise da Silveira, a Brazilian psychiatrist, was considered a pioneer in the use of humanized treatments for patients with mental disorders.

– Paul Tillich, twentieth-century German theologian and philosopher of religion One of the founders of the Frankfurt School and also of the intellectual movement of “religious socialism”.

Pyrrhus, a Greek philosopher of the first century B.C., was the founder of Skepticism, a philosophical current characterized essentially by doubting all the phenomena that surround the human being.

Plato, philosopher and mathematician of the classical period of Ancient Greece, was the author of several philosophical dialogues. He said, “Try to move the world, but start by moving yourself.”

– Seneca, Stoicist philosopher, poet, and humanist of the Roman Empire of the fourth century BC He wrote about the soul, human existence, ethics, logic, and nature.

Socrates, the “father of philosophy,” lived in the fourth century B.C. in Ancient Greece. The principle of Socrates’ philosophy was in the phrase “Know thyself.”

– Zygmunt Bauman, Polish-British philosopher and sociologist of the twenty-first century Author of the concept of liquid modernity that expresses that we are living in times of instability and volatility.

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian writer and philosopher, one of the greatest novelists and thinkers in history describes the ambiguity of human consciousness with mastery and timelessness.

Leo Tolstoy, among others, author of two magnificent novels that marked the history of world literature: War and Peace and Anna Karénine.

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian journalist, short story writer, chronicler, poet and theatrician, critic of behaviors, customs and social structures.