Dewey, John

"The very heart of education is to respect the individual child."

"I believe the schools are, or should be, one important method of bringing people and their ideas into communication with one another."

"The greatest method of learning is by doing."

"In a democracy, the majority rules, but the minority has rights that cannot be violated."

"The self is not ready made, but made by conscious choice of action."

"Democracy is more than a form of government; it is a form of associated living."

"The presence of a problem means something to be done, not something to be known."

"Imagination, as the bold effort to perceive relations and to unify knowledge, is the very heart of thinking."

"I believe that education is a process of living and not a preparation for future living."

"The capacity to learn is virtually infinite, and so is the potential for personal growth."

"When all is said and done, the life of action is a life of suffering and of endurance."

"The true way to freedom is through knowledge."

"Education should prepare us not for society as it is, but as it should be."

"The school must be a place for the cultivation of reason and the development of character."

"Genuine education means learning how to perceive and respond to the world more adequately."

"We are born into a world of things and people that shape us, but we are not merely the products of our environment."

"The test of the scientific spirit is willingness to abandon any conclusion, however much beloved, if the evidence runs counter to it."

"I believe that the school should represent present life, life as real and vital to the child as that which he carries on in the home, in the neighborhood, or in the playground."