467 Quotes by Maria Montessori

The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.

This is education, understood as a help to life; an education from birth, which feeds a peaceful revolution and unites all in a common aim, attracting them as to a single centre. Mothers, fathers, politicians: all must combine in their respect and help for this delicate work of formation, which the little child carries on in the depth of a profound psychological mystery, under the tutelage of an inner guide. This is the bright new hope for mankind.

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

To aid life, leaving it free, however, that is the basic task of the educator.

A child is mysterious and powerful; And contains within himself the secret of human nature.

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.

Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life.

The greatness of the human personality begins at the hour of birth. From this almost mystic affirmation there comes what may seem a strange conclusion: that education must start from birth.

We discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.