“Learning and loving go hand in hand. My grandfather was one of those people who loved to live and loved to teach. Every time I was with him, he’d show me something about the world or something about myself that I hadn’t even thought of yet. He’d help me find something wonderful in the smallest of things, and ever so carefully, he helped me understand the enormous worth of every human being. My grandfather was not a professional teacher, but the way he treated me (the way he loved me) and the things he did with me served me as well as any teacher I’ve ever known.”
“What are the basic necessities for children to be ready to learn? (1) a sense of self-worth, (2) a sense of trust, (3) curiosity, (4) the capacity to look and listen carefully, (5) the capacity to play and (6)times of solitude.”
“There’s a lot of talk these days about ‘education’ and what children need for learning. Before narrowing down to three black marks like C A T on a piece of paper, I would rather see a child be in the presence of someone who cares about children and about cats, someone who can help him or her come to respect cats for their grace and independence, grow to know that cats have feelings, that they need food and water, that each one is different, that they get tired and they sleep and they need to be loved.”
“Knowing that we’re valued and being in the presence of people who want to share with us something of this world that they love are the two most important ingredients of education.”
“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”
“I like you just the way you are.”