The outcome of reading with a pen in the hand is not possible to anticipate, either, and here, too, the idea is not to copy, but to have a meaningful dialogue with the texts we read.

When we extract ideas from the specific context of a text, we deal with ideas that serve a specific purpose in a particular context, support a specific argument, are part of a theory that isn’t ours or written in a language we wouldn’t use.

This is why we have to translate them into our own language to prepare them to be embedded into the new contexts of our own thinking, the different context(s) within the slip-box. Translating means to give the truest possible account of the original work using different words – it does not mean the freedom to make something fit.

As well, the mere copying of quotes almost always changes their meaning by stripping them of context, even though the words aren’t changed. This is a common beginner mistake, which can only lead to a patchwork of ideas, but never a coherent thought.