A child's character develops in accordance with the obstacles he has encountered... or the freedom favoring his development that he has enjoyed.

The task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility and evil with activity.

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 hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.

The child’s parents are not his makers but his guardians.

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.

There is a great sense of community within the Montessori classroom, where children of differing ages work together in an atmosphere of cooperation rather than competitiveness. There is respect for the environment and for the individuals within it, which comes through experience of freedom within the community.