Maria Montessori Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Maria Montessori quotes, Maria Montessori sayings, and Maria Montessori proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

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.' Maria Montessori
Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create. Maria Montessori
To aid life, leaving it free, however, that is the basic task of the educator. Maria Montessori
The essence of independence is to be able to do something for one s self. Maria Montessori
Discipline must come through liberty. . . . We do not consider an individual disciplined only when he has been rendered as artificially silent as a mute and as immovable as a paralytic. He is an individual annihilated, not disciplined. Maria Montessori
The unknown energy that can help humanity is that which lies hidden in the child. Maria Montessori
It is not in human nature for all men to tread the same path of development, as animals do of a single species. Maria Montessori
Never help a child with a task that they feel they can complete themselves. Maria Montessori
To stimulate life, leaving it then free to develop, to unfold, herein lies the first task of the teacher. Maria Montessori
Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world. Maria Montessori
The environment acts more strongly upon the individual life the less fixed and strong this individual life may be. Maria Montessori
Play is the work of the child. Maria Montessori
The consciousness of knowing how to make oneself useful, how to help mankind in many ways, fills the soul with noble confidence, almost religious dignity. Maria Montessori
Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind. Maria Montessori
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.' Maria Montessori
A humankind abandoned in its earlier formative stage becomes its own greatest threat to survival. Maria Montessori
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. Maria Montessori
When you have solved the problem of controlling the attention of the child, you have solved the entire problem of its education. Maria Montessori
The greatest source of discouragement is the conviction that one is unable to do something. Maria Montessori
The greatest development is achieved during the first years of life, and therefore it is then that the greatest care should be taken. If this is done, then the child does not become a burden; he will reveal himself as the greatest marvel of nature. Maria Montessori
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. Maria Montessori
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. Maria Montessori
A great deal of time and intellectual force are lost in the world, because the false seems great and the truth so small and insignificant. Maria Montessori
There can be no substitute for work, neither affection nor physical well-being can replace it. Maria Montessori
We teachers can only help the work going on, as servants wait upon a master. Maria Montessori
Only practical work and experience lead the young to maturity. Maria Montessori
The adult works to improve his environment while the child works to improve himself. Maria Montessori
The first idea the child must acquire is that of the difference between good and evil. Maria Montessori
If the ways of the Almighty are not humanly logical, it is not the fault of the Almighty but of the limitations of human logic. Maria Montessori
If the whole of mankind is to be united into one brotherhood, all obstacles must be removed so that men, all over the surface of the globe, should be as children playing in a garden. Maria Montessori