The unknown energy that can help humanity is that which lies hidden in the child.
The child, in fact, once he feels sure of himself, will no longer seek the approval of authority after every step.
Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.
Preventing war is the work of politicians, establishing peace is the work of educationists.
Do not erase the designs the child makes in the soft wax of his inner life.
There is no description, no image in any book that is capable of replacing the sight of real trees, and all of the life to be found around them in a real forest.
When dealing with children there is greater need for observing than of probing.
The activity of the child has always been looked upon as an expression of his vitality.
Do not offer the child the content of the mind, but the order for that content.
There is in the child a special kind of sensitivity which leads him to absorb everything about him, and it is this work of observing and absorbing that alone enables him to adapt himself to life.
The study of love and its utilization will lead us to the source from which it springs, The Child.
To stimulate life, leaving it then free to develop, to unfold, herein lies the first task of the teacher.
Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind.
He who is served is limited in his independence.
Growth is not merely a harmonious increase in size, but a transformation.
Education must start from birth.
The greatest step forward in human evolution was made when society began to help the weak and the poor, instead of oppressing and despising them.
Concentration is a part of life. It is not the consequence of a method of education.
Today, however, those things which occupy us in the field of education are the interests of humanity at large and of civilization, and before such great forces we can recognize only one country-the entire world.
The first idea the child must acquire is that of the difference between good and evil.