Quotes by Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori’s words have inspired parents, educators, and researchers for over a century. Her observations of children were profound and often far ahead of their time. Montessori education celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007, and her philosophy continues to grow in influence across the world.
Our favourite Maria Montessori Quote: “Help me to do it myself.”
Montessori quotes below were selected from Maria Montessori’s writings and lectures.
Montessori Quotes on The Nature of the Child
“It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was.”
— Maria Montessori
“Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.”
— Maria Montessori
“The things he sees are not just remembered; they form a part of his soul.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child is an enigma… He has the highest potentialities, but we do not know what he will be.”
— Maria Montessori
“The greatness of the human personality begins at the hour of birth.”
— Maria Montessori
“The unknown energy that can help humanity is that which lies hidden in the child.”
— Maria Montessori
“We must therefore turn to the child as to the key to the fate of our future life.”
— Maria Montessori
“The study of love and its utilization will lead us to the source from which it springs, The Child.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child’s parents are not his makers but his guardians.”
— Maria Montessori
Montessori Quotes on Independence and Freedom
“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”
— Maria Montessori
“These words reveal the child’s inner needs: ‘Help me to do it alone.'”
— Maria Montessori
“Little children, from the moment they are weaned, are making their way toward independence.”
— Maria Montessori
“The essence of independence is to be able to do something for one’s self.”
— Maria Montessori
“He who is served is limited in his independence.”
— Maria Montessori
“Free choice is one of the highest of all the mental processes.”
— Maria Montessori
“To give a child liberty is not to abandon him to himself.”
— Maria Montessori
“To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any powers of control is to betray the idea of freedom.”
— Maria Montessori
“Only through freedom and environmental experience is it practically possible for human development to occur.”
— Maria Montessori
“No adult can bear a child’s burden or grow up in his stead.”
— Maria Montessori
Montessori Quotes on Learning and Development
“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.”
— Maria Montessori
“Education should no longer be mostly imparting knowledge, but must take a new path, seeking the release of human potentials.”
— Maria Montessori
“The first essential for the child’s development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy.”
— Maria Montessori
“Growth comes from activity, not from intellectual understanding.”
— Maria Montessori
“Growth is not merely a harmonious increase in size, but a transformation.”
— Maria Montessori
“Character formation cannot be taught. It comes from experience and not from explanation.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child can develop fully by means of experience in his environment. We call such experiences ‘work’.”
— Maria Montessori
“Such experience is not just play… It is work he must do in order to grow up.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child becomes a person through work.”
— Maria Montessori
“We found individual activity is the one factor that stimulates and produces development.”
— Maria Montessori
“The activity of the child has always been looked upon as an expression of his vitality.”
— Maria Montessori
“Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind.”
— Maria Montessori
Montessori Quotes on The Environment
“The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences.”
— Maria Montessori
“Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.”
— Maria Montessori
“To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.”
— Maria Montessori
“The environment itself will teach the child, if every error he makes is manifest to him, without the intervention of a parent or teacher, who should remain a quiet observer of all that happens.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child should live in an environment of beauty.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child’s progress does not depend only on his age, but also on being free to look around him.”
— Maria Montessori
“The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.”
— Maria Montessori
Montessori Quotes on The Role of the Teacher and Adult
“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
“The task of the teacher is to create an environment in which the child can learn and develop.”
— Maria Montessori
“The teacher must provide the opportunity for the child to act upon his ideas and to make his mistakes.”
— Maria Montessori
“To aid life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself, that is the basic task of the educator.”
— Maria Montessori
“But an adult, if he is to provide proper guidance, must always be calm and act slowly so that the child who is watching him can clearly see his actions in all their particulars.”
— Maria Montessori
“Respect all the reasonable forms of activity in which the child engages and try to understand them.”
— Maria Montessori
“All our handling of the child will bear fruit, not only at the moment, but in the adult they are destined to become.”
— Maria Montessori
“When dealing with children there is greater need for observing than of probing.”
— Maria Montessori
Montessori Quotes on Movement and the Hands
“The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.”
— Maria Montessori
“The human hand allows the mind to reveal itself.”
— Maria Montessori
“Since it is through movement that the will realises itself, we should assist a child in his attempts to put his will into act.”
— Maria Montessori
“Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements.”
— Maria Montessori
Montessori Quotes on Potential and Imagination
“Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.”
— Maria Montessori
“It is true that we cannot make a genius. We can only give to each child the chance to fulfil his potential possibilities.”
— Maria Montessori
“The essential thing is to arouse such an interest that it engages the child’s whole personality.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child builds his inmost self out of the deeply held impressions he receives.”
— 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
Montessori Quotes on Rewards, Discipline and Inner Development
“The prize and punishments are incentives toward unnatural or forced effort, and therefore we certainly cannot speak of the natural development of the child in connection with them.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child, in fact, once he feels sure of himself, will no longer seek the approval of authority after every step.”
— Maria Montessori
“The child’s inner guide, which is the teacher of his soul, leads him to work according to his own inner necessities.”
— Maria Montessori
“It is in the encounter of the maternal guiding instincts with the sensitive periods of the newly born that conscious love develops between parent and child.”
— Maria Montessori
“Of all things love is the most potent.”
— Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori Biographies
Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work
Maria Montessori: A Biography
The Child Is the Teacher: A Life of Maria Montessori
This page is for general informational purposes only; please consult a qualified professional for advice specific to your child’s individual needs.