...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.

We must, therefore, quit our roles as jailers and instead take care to prepare an environment in which we do as little as possible to exhaust the child with our surveillance and instruction

The child has other powers than ours, and the creation he achieves is no small one; it is everything.

The adult ought never to mold the child after himself, but should leave him alone and work always from the deepest comprehension of the child himself.

Order is ... the true key to rapidity of reaction.

The unknown energy that can help humanity is that which lies hidden in the child.

The social rights of children must be recognized so that a world suited to their needs may be constructed for them. The greatest crime that society commits is that of wasting the money which it should use for children on things that will destroy them and society itself as well.