Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing
A.S. Neill
Top 10 Best Quotes
“Compelled respect always implies fear.”
“When we consider a child’s natural interest in things, we begin to realize the dangers of both reward and punishment. Rewards and punishment tend to pressure a child into interest. But true interest is the life force of the whole personality, and such interest is completely spontaneous.”
“What is plain should be said plainly.”
“The difficult child is the child who is unhappy. He is at war with himself; and in consequence, he is at war with the world.”
“Small boys often produce their own plays; but usually the parts are not written out. They hardly need to be, for the main line of each character is always "Stick 'em up!" In these plays the curtain is always rung down on a set of corpses, for small boys are by nature through and uncompromising.”
“Children do not need teaching as much as they need love and understanding.”
“the system goes on . . . separating the head from the heart.”
“a teacher should never touch symbols. If he is going to use psychology he should do so more in action than in words.”
“Summerhill children are allowed to go through their gangster period, and consequentially more furniture is destroyed.”
“Spelling is local, or rather national.”
Except where otherwise noted, all rights reserved to the author(s) of this book (mentioned above). The content of this page serves solely as promotional material for the aforementioned book. If you enjoyed these quotes, you can support the author(s) by acquiring the full book from Amazon.
Book Keywords:
children, gangsters, make-believe, freedom, destruction, childhood, imagination, child-care, writing, respect, growing-up, theatre, fear, boys, plays
