Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals.

There is reason to believe that voluntary activity, more than highly developed intellect, distinguishes humans from the animals which stand closest to them.

What children can do with the assistance of others might be in some sense even more indicative of their mental development than what they can do alone

Experience teaches us that thought does not express itself in words, but rather realizes itself in them

By giving our students practice in talking with others, we give them frames for thinking on their own.

It may be said that the basic characteristic of human behavior in general is that humans personally influence their relations with the environment and through that environment personally change their behavior, subjugating it to their control.

Human learning presupposes a specific social nature and a process by which children grow into the intellectual life of those around them