Maria Montessori

"The child's sensitivity to the environment peaks at different periods."

"The goal of education is to develop the whole child."

"The child must be allowed to make mistakes to learn."

"The prepared mind is the most powerful tool for change."

"The child is capable of far more than we give him credit for."

"The child is both a challenge and a gift. We must learn to see the potential in every small hand that reaches out to us."

"Independence is not something we give children; it is something we allow them to develop."

"The greatest poverty is the poverty of spirit, of not knowing one's own capabilities."

"Work is a privilege we must restore to childhood."

"The task of the educator is not to talk, but to observe."

"If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, there must be peace in the home."

"We teachers can only help the work which is being done, as servants wait upon a master."

"The human hand is the instrument of man's intelligence."

"A child who does not play is a sick child, physically and spiritually."

"The adult works to perfect the world; the child works to perfect himself."

"The small child learns to speak while we adults speak to her. She drinks in the language around her as naturally as the ground drinks in the rain."

"Nothing can be taught to a child; everything can only be learned."

"The environment itself teaches the child. We call this the prepared environment."

"Love is not enough. There must also be understanding."

"The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'"

"The child's conquest of independence begins from birth."

"We are not here to serve the child, but to guide the child to serve himself."

"Imagination aids the development of thought and is necessary for scientific activity."

"The child must experience the natural consequences of his acts."

"In order to have faith we must have patience; in order to have patience we must have hope."

"The role of the beautiful environment, carefully prepared, is to eliminate obstacles to development."

"The child is capable of development, but is incapable of self-development."

"Where there is social inequality, there can be no true peace."

"Help me to do it myself—these words contain the whole philosophy of education."

"Art speaks the language of the soul and reaches places words cannot go."