Education is the science of relations

Therefore, teaching, talk and tale, however lucid or fascinating, effect nothing until self-activity be set up; that is, self-education is the only possible education; the rest is mere veneer laid on the surface of a child's nature.

The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days.

We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.

Authority is just and faithful in all matters of promise-keeping; it is also considerate, and that is why a good mother is the best home-ruler.

Imagination does not stir at the suggestion of the feeble, much diluted stuff that is too often put into children’s hands.

A child gets moral notions from the fairy-tales he delights in, as do his elders from tale and verse.