In 1995 I was in the Lannan Foundation audience as Michael Silverblatt interviewed Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan journalist, writer, and champion of social justice. I listened in awe. Galeano’s words touched me so deeply that I later watched the video made that night and transcribed some portions of the interview. In one portion he said:

If you don’t want to be mute, you should begin to not be deaf.

Such wisdom and beauty, no? It truly is that when we hear other people’s voices – their ideas, experiences and truths – they help to sharpen our own thoughts and ideas. Maybe the greatest power of words comes when they have emerged from community — from sharing experiences, from wrestling with opposing ideals, and from allowing ambiguity to have place within us. Then maybe we can better understand our own perspectives and how we’ve come to them. And maybe we gain insight on the impact our words have on others. Just some of my musing.

Along with that, however, I leave you with Galeano’s full quote:

“I think that words are so powerful and have such a strange magical power.  . . . I’m a hunter of words  Ladron (thief), I’m stealing words. I write down the words I steal in a little notebook I have in my pocket. [And he pulled the notebook out of his pocket to show us.] . . .  This is full of stolen words because if you don’t want to be mute, you should begin to not be deaf.  If you want to discover your own voice, you should begin to hear other people’s voices.”