Maria Montessori Quotes & Sayings

“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.'”

“Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world.”

“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.”

“We cannot create observers by saying 'observe', but by giving them the power and the means for this observation and these means are procured through education of the senses.”

“One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.”

“We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.”

“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”

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

“The first idea the child must acquire is that of the difference between good and evil.”

“If an educational act is to be efficacious, it will be only that one which tends to help toward the complete unfolding of life. To be thus helpful it is necessary rigorously to avoid the arrest of spontaneous movements and the imposition of arbitrary tasks.”