All our handling of the child will bear fruit, not only at the moment, but in the adult they are destined to become.

No social problem is as universal as the oppression of the child

The essential thing is to arouse such an interest that it engages the child’s whole personality.

It is easy to substitute our will for that of the child by means of suggestion or coercion; but when we have done this we have robbed him of his greatest right, the right to construct his own personality.

All human victories, all human progress, stand upon the inner force.

If we really want children to grow into independent and resourceful adults, we should stop pouring their milk as soon as they have learned to pour it themselves and stop fastening their buttons as soon as they can fasten them without help.

Growth comes from activity, not from intellectual understanding.