Montessori Quotes

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Quotes: Maria Montessori Maria Montessori in 1913 “The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences.” *** “The things he sees are not just remembered; they form a part of his soul.” *** “Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.” *** “It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was.” *** “When dealing with children there is greater need for observing than of probing” *** “It is true that we cannot make a genius. We can only give to teach child the chance to fulfil his potential possibilities.” *** “Little children, from the moment they are weaned, are making their way toward independence.” *** “Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.” *** “The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.” *** “Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.” *** “The first essential for the child’s development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy.” *** “Respect all the reasonable forms of activity in which the child engages and try to understand them.” *** “Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.” *** “The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” *** “The human hand allows the minds to reveal itself.” *** “To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to

develop freely.” *** “The child’s progress does not depend only on his age, but also on being free to look around him.” *** “Free choice is one of the highest of all the mental processes.” *** “Since it is through movement that the will realises itself, we should assist a child in his attempts to put his will into act.” *** “Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind.” *** “These words reveal the child’s inner needs; ‘Help me to do it alone’.” *** “No adult can bear a child’s burden or grow up in his stead.” *** “Only through freedom and environmental experience is it practically possible for human development to occur.” *** “The child builds his inmost self out of the deeply held impressions he receives.” *** “Growth is not merely a harmonious increase in size, but a transformation.” *** “The greatness of the human personality begins at the hour of birth.” *** “The prize and punishments are incentives toward unnatural or forced effort, and, therefore we certainly cannot speak of the natural development of the child in connection with them.” *** “Character formation cannot be taught. It comes from experience and not from explanation.” *** “Growth comes from activity, not from intellectual understanding.” *** “He who is served is limited in his independence.” *** “The essential thing is to arouse such an interest that it engages the child’s whole personality.” *** “Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment.” *** “Education should no longer be mostly imparting knowledge, but must take a new path, seeking the release of human potentials.” *** “All our handling of the child will bear fruit, not only at the moment, but in the adult they are destined to become.” *** “The child is an enigma… He has the highest potentialities, but we do not know what he will be.”

*** “The activity of the child has always been looked upon as an expression of his vitality.” *** “The study of love and its utilization will lead us to the source from which it springs, The Child.” *** “It is not in human nature for all men to tread the same path of development, as animals do of a single species.” *** “Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements.” *** “The child’s parents are not his makers but his guardians.” *** “We must therefore turn to the child as to the key to the fate of our future life.” *** “The unknown energy that can help humanity is that which lies hidden in the child.” *** “The child should live in an environment of beauty.” *** “It is in the encounter of the maternal guiding instincts with the sensitive periods of the newly born that conscious love develops between parent and child.” ***