The child, making use of all that he finds around him, shapes himself for the future.

How often is the soul of man - especially in childhood - deprived because he is not allowed to come in contact with nature.

It is almost possible to say that there is a mathematical relationship between the beauty of his surroundings and the activity of the child; he will make discoveries rather more voluntarily in a gracious setting than in an ugly one.

No adult can bear a child’s burden or grow up in his stead.

Only through freedom and environmental experience is it practically possible for human development to occur.

The real preparation for education is a study of one's self. The training of the teacher...is something far more than a learning of ideas. It includes the training of character; it is a preparation of the spirit.

Environment is undoubtedly a secondary factor in the phenomena of life; it can modify in that it can help or hinder, but it can never create.