Maria Montessori Quotes

We've rounded up some of our favorite Maria Montessori quotes from her teachings. We hope you find them inspiring!

Maria Montessori Quotes

“The different parts of the brain must not only be stimulated in order to make them function, but must work together in harmony: this is what is called “integration”. Understanding the Human Being, Page 5-6

- “For the proper development of the child’s psychic life, it is essential that the living container, the mother, has an attitude of acceptance.” Understanding the Human Being, Page 11

- “During pregnancy nothing can reach the child if not through the mother. this relationship is one of the most important components in the development of the new human being.” Understanding the Human Being, Page 12

- “An important communication comes through the skin and this contact can be used from the very beginning by the father to establish a direct relationship with the child." Understanding the Human Being, Page 55

- “As soon as children are able to walk, a period begins during which the hands, which are now liberated from the task of helping the body to move, need to be given work.” Understanding the Human Being, Page 120

- “During the Crisis of Opposition, what really counts is helping the child verify the importance of his presence in the family. As soon as he feels reassured about this he will stop saying “No” and will continue to work peacefully along with us.” Understanding the Human Being, Page 159

- “Real collaboration only comes from those who do not feel overpowered and can contribute freely. Only when we are free is it possible to make choices.” Understanding the Human Being, Page 159

- “Many years of direct experience with children have convinced me profoundly that prenatal life and the period from birth to the age of three years establish the basis for the human personality”.Understanding the Human Being, Page 164

- “The task of educators is immense because human progress and world peace are in their hands”. Understanding the Human Being, Page 165

- “Early infancy is the most delicate period in human life”. Understanding the Human Being, Page 165

- "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.”

- "The development of language is part of the development of the personality, for words are the natural means of expressing thoughts and establishing understanding between people."

- "He is an independent person who must be considered in terms of his own individual self.”

- “Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.”

- “Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire to make him learn things, but by the endeavor always to keep burning within him that light which is called intelligence.”

- “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.”

- “Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.”

- “Of all things love is the most potent.”

- “We cannot know the consequences of suppressing a child spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active. We may even suffocate life itself. That humanity which is revealed in all its intellectual splendor during the sweet and tender age of childhood should be respected with a kind of religious veneration. It is like the sun which appears at dawn or a flower just beginning to bloom. Education cannot be effective unless it helps a child to open up himself to life.”

- “Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.”