Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. She was the first woman in the world to be both a physician and a licensed physician. She is known as the founder of the Montessori method, the first child-centered educational method and she was the first woman to be awarded a gold medal by the Pope. Here are some Maria Montessori quotes.
We have compiled some of the inspirational quotes by Maria Montessori about education, life, and nature. We hope these great motivating quotes motive you on a daily basis.
“Under the urge of nature and according to the laws of development, though not understood by the adult, the child is obliged to be serious about two fundamental things … the first is the love of activity… The second fundamental thing is independence.”
“The first aim of the prepared environment is, as far as it is possible, to render the growing child independent of the adult.”
“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”
“The greatest sign of success for a teacher… is to be able to say, ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist.’”
“Any child who is self-sufficient, who can ties his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity which is derived from a sense of independence.”
“Play is the work of the child.”
“What we need is a world full of miracles, like the miracle of seeing the young child seeking work and independence, and manifesting a wealth of enthusiasm and love.”
“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.”
“The child has a different relation to his environment from ours… the child absorbs it. The things he sees are not just remembered; they form part of his soul. He incarnates in himself all in the world about him that his eyes see and his ears hear.”
“Growth comes from activity, not from intellectual understanding.”
“Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.”
“Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.”
“We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are a part of the universe, and are connected with each other to form one whole unity. This idea helps the mind of the child to become fixed, to stop wandering in an aimless quest for knowledge. He is satisfied, having found the universal center of himself with all things.”
“Of all things love is the most potent.”
“Peace is what every human being is craving for, and it can be brought about by humanity through the child.”
“The teacher must derive not only the capacity but the desire, to observe natural phenomena. The teacher must understand and feel her position of observer: the activity must lie in the phenomenon.”
“No social problem is as universal as the oppression of the child … No slave was ever so much the property of his master as the child is of his parent … Never were the rights of man ever so disregarded as in the case of the child.”
“Let us treat them [children], therefore, with all the kindness which we would wish to help to develop in them.”
“Do not erase the designs the child makes in the soft wax of his inner life.”
“The first idea the child must acquire is that of the difference between good and evil.”
“It is not enough for the teacher to love the child. She must first love and understand the universe. She must prepare herself, and truly work at it.”
“The only language men ever speak perfectly is the one they learn in babyhood when no one can teach them anything!”
“We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.”
“We teachers can only help the work going on, as servants wait upon a master.”
“The child who has felt a strong love for his surroundings and for all living creatures, who has discovered joy and enthusiasm in work, gives us reason to hope that humanity can develop in a new direction.”
“It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was.”
“The child has a mind able to absorb knowledge. He has the power to teach himself.”
“Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind.”
“Growth is not merely a harmonious increase in size, but a transformation.”
“A child needs freedom within limits.”
“The unknown energy that can help humanity is that which lies hidden in the child.”
“The instructions of the teacher consist then merely in a hint, a touch-enough to give a start to the child. The rest develops of itself.”
“Character formation cannot be taught. It comes from experience and not from explanation.”
“It is not in human nature for all men to tread the same path of development, as animals do of a single species.”
“We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity.”
“The needs of mankind are universal. Our means of meeting them create the richness and diversity of the planet. The Montessori child should come to relish the texture of that diversity.”
“The adult works to improve his environment while the child works to improve himself.”
“Movement, or physical activity, is thus an essential factor in intellectual growth, which depends upon the impressions received from outside. Through movement we come in contact with external reality, and it is through these contacts that we eventually acquire even abstract ideas.”
“The greatness of the human personality begins at the hour of birth.”
“To stimulate life, leaving it then free to develop, to unfold, herein lies the first task of the teacher.”
Quotes by maria montessori on education
“Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life.”
“Happiness is not the whole aim of education. A man must be independent in his powers and character; able to work and assert his mastery over all that depends on him.”
“Education should no longer be most imparting of knowledge, but must take a new path, seeking the release of human potentialities.”
“Education today, in this particular social period, is assuming truly unlimited importance. And the increased emphasis on its practical value can be summed up in one sentence: education is the best weapon for peace.”
“The task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility and evil with activity.”
“One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.”
“To aid life, leaving it free, however, that is the basic task of the educator.”
“It is necessary for the teacher to guide the child without letting him feel her presence too much, so that she may always be ready to supply the desired help, but may never be the obstacle between the child and his experience.”
“Preventing war is the work of politicians, establishing peace is the work of educationists.”