Obedience is the gateway through which knowledge, yes, and love, too, enter the mind of the child.

I'd rather break stones on the king's highway than hem a handkerchief.

It is a rare privilege to watch the birth, growth, and first feeble struggles of a living mind; this privilege is mine.

If the child is left to himself, he will think more and better, if less showily. Let him go and come freely, let him touch real things and combine his impressions for himself.

Every renaissance comes to the world with a cry, the cry of the human spirit to be free.

I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built upon the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think. Whereas if the child is left to himself, he will think more and better , if less "showily." Let him come and go freely, let him touch real things and combine his impressions for himself... Teaching fills the mind with artificial associations that must be got rid of before the child can develop independent ideas out of actual experiences.

I think that there are some teachers that do a very good job of incorporating culture and history. And there are some teachers who could use a little more help in that area.