...we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being. It is not acquired by listening to words, but in virtue of experiences in which the child acts on his environment. The teacher's task is not to talk, but to prepare and arrange a series of motives for cultural activity in a special environment made for the child.

A teacher, therefore, who would think that he could prepare himself for his mission through study alone would be mistaken. The first thing required of a teacher is that he be rightly disposed for his task.

The teacher, when she begins work in our schools, must have a kind of faith that the child will reveal himself through work.

No one who has ever done anything really great or successful has ever done it simply because he was attracted by what we call a 'reward' or by the fear of what we call a 'punishment.'

Free choice is one of the highest of all the mental processes.

Preventing war is the work of politicians, establishing peace is the work of educationists.

Adults have not understood children or adolescents and they are, as a consequence, in continual conflict with them.