The Limits of Interpretation Quotes

“When I start reading a text I never know, from the beginning, whether I am approaching it from the point of view of a suitable intention. My initiative starts to become exciting when I discover that my intention could meet the intention of that text.

How to prove a conjecture about the 'intentio operis'? The only way is to check it against the text as a coherent whole. […] any interpretation given of a certain portion of a text can be accepted if it is confirmed and must be rejected if it is challenged by another portion of the same text. In this sense the internal textual coherence controls the otherwise uncontrollable drives of the reader.”
― Umberto Eco, The Limits of Interpretation