Quote collection
73 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done."
"When you teach a child something you take away forever his chance of discovering it for himself."
"Every time we teach a child something, we keep him from inventing it himself. On the other hand, that which we allow him to discover for himself will remain with him visible for the rest of his life."
"Play is the work of childhood."
"Children require long, uniterrupted periods of play and exploration"
"The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done-men who are creative, inventive, and discovers. The second goal of education is to form minds which can be critical, can verify, and not accept everything they are offered."
"Are we forming children who are only capable of learning what is already known? Or should we try to develop creative and innovative minds, capable of discovery from the preschool age on, throughout life?"
"Children have real understanding only of that which they invent themselves, and each time that we try to teach them too quickly, we keep them from reinventing it themselves."
"Play is the answer to how anything new comes about."
"Education, for most people, means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of his society . . . but for me and no one else, education means making creators. . . . You have to make inventors, innovators...not conformists"
"Intelligence is what you use when you don't know what to do."
"Teaching means creating situations where structures can be discovered."
"Experience precedes understanding."
"What we see changes what we know. What we know changes what we see."
"Each time one prematurely teaches a child something he could have discovered himself, that child is kept from inventing it and consequently from understanding it completely."
"True interest appears when the self identifies itself with ideas or objects, when it finds in them a means of expression and they become a necessary form of fuel for its activity."
"What is desired is that the teacher ceased being a lecturer, satisfied with transmitting ready-made solutions. His role should rather be that of a mentor stimulating initiative and research."
"How can we, with our adult minds, know what will be interesting? If you follow the child...you can find out something new."
"It is with children that we have the best chance of studying the development of logical knowledge, mathematical knowledge, physical knowledge, and so forth."
"Only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual."