It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was.

The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.

Childhood constitutes the most important element in an adult's life, for it is in his early years that a man is made.

If I am going up a ladder, and a dog begins to bite at my ankles, I can do one of two things - either turn round and kick out at the it, or simply go on up the ladder. I prefer to go up the ladder!

He does it with his hands, by experience, first in play and then through work. The hands are the instruments of man's intelligence.

No one can be free unless he is independent. Therefore, the first active manifestations of the child's individual liberty must be so guided that through this activity he may arrive at independence.

The objects in our system are instead a help to the child himself, he chooses what he wants for his own use, and works with it according to his own needs, tendencies and special interests. In this way, the objects become a means of growth.