Quote File

When order comes of itself, we know that we have re-entered the order of the universe.

And it is the children who have made this beautiful staircase that mounts ever higher.

Justice is something truly spiritual; it tries to ensure that every child shall make the best of themself. Justice, here, is to give every human being the help they need to bring about their fullest spiritual stature

What is the greatest sign of success for a teacher thus transformed? It is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'

[The teacher] sees one who seeks out the greatest efforts because their constant aspiration  is to make themself superior to difficulties.

The master whom the teacher serves is the child's spirit.

Every action of the teacher's can become a call and an invitation to the children.

The teacher, when they begin work in our schools, must have a kind of faith that the child will reveal themself through work.

The child, in fact, once they feel sure of themself, will no longer seek the approval of authority after every step. [...] What interests them is finishing their work, not to have it admired, nor to treasure is up as their own property.

The result of concentration is an awakening of the social sense

Free choice is one of the highest of all the mental processes.

It is clear that the capacity for free choice is strengthened by exercise.

A vigorous and firm call is the only true kindness toward these little minds.

If the teacher cannot recognize the difference between pure impulse, and the spontaneous energies which spring to life in a tranquilized spirit, then her action will bear no fruit.

Discipline is born when the child concentrates his attention on some object that attracts them and which provides them not only with a useful exercise but with a control of error.

If the child is not yet master of their own actions, if they cannot obey even their own will, so much the less can they obey the will of someone else.

The child's obedience is closely connected with the stages of ability that they happen to have reached. To carry out an order, one must already posses some degree of maturity and a measure of the special skill that it may need.