The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.

Mans true taproots are nourished in the sequence of generations, and he loses his taproots in disrupted developmental time, not in abandoned localities.

You see a child play, and it is so close to seeing an artist paint, for in play a child says things without uttering a word. You can see how he solves his problems. You can also see what's wrong. Young children, especially, have enormous creativity, and whatever's in them rises to the surface in free play.

Children cannot be fooled by empty praise and condescending encouragement. They may have to accept artificial bolstering of their self-esteem in lieu of something better, but what I call their accruing ego identity gains real strength only from wholehearted and consistent recognition of real accomplishment, that is, achievement that has meaning in their culture.

Babies control and bring up their families as much as they are controlled by them; in fact ... the family brings up baby by being brought up by him.

You've got to learn to accept the law of life, and face the fact that we disintegrate slowly.

Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death.