Our World, Our Legacy
The Child, Society & the World:
Unpublished Speeches and
Writings;
Chapter IV-1:
Man’s Place in Creation
Maria Montessori
“The secret of education is to
recognize and observe the divine
in man; that is to know, love and
serve the divine in man. To help
and cooperate from the position
of the creature not of the Creator.
We have to further the divine
work but not substitute ourselves
for it, otherwise we become
seducers of nature.”
The Child, Society & the World:
Chapter IV-4: Cosmic Education
 “An ardent admiration towards
this prodigious humanity must be
the fundamental sentiment of the
new generations. They must feel
the pride and privilege of
belonging to humanity. Man must
appear as a sacred being of
creation and as the greatest
marvel of nature
 and the sentiment of “gratitude
and love” for all the advantages
that we enjoy in life must be
aroused with every step that is
taken in the field of culture. No
object must be made use of
without the thought that some
unknown man produced it.”
Maria Montessori
“The secret of education is to
recognize and observe the divine
in man; that is to know, love and
serve the divine in man. To help
and cooperate from the position
of the creature not of the Creator.
We have to further the divine
work but not substitute ourselves
for it, otherwise we become
seducers of nature.”
The Child, Society and the World: Chapter
IV-4: Cosmic Education,
p. 109 (India, 1946)
“One thing still evades the
intelligence of humanity and
that is the consciousness of
their terrestrial destiny and
of the fact that the whole of
humanity is so intimately
united that it forms but one
organized energy.”
Maria Montessori
The Advanced Montessori Method -1;
Chapter 3
My Contribution to Experimental Science
This spiritual phenomenon
which may co-involve the
entire consciousness of the
adult, is therefore only one of
the constant elements of the
phenomenon of ‘internal
formation’.
It occurs as the normal
beginning of the inner life of
children, and accompanies
its development in such a
manner as to become
accesible to research, as an
experimental fact.
Maria Montessori
 “What we are apt to say is “Obey
me and be like me.” What we
ought to say is “Obey God and
become like God.” We think we say
it because in words we are
constantly telling the child to
obey God but our actions do not
agree with the words.”
 “There are two things to do: give a
knowledge of God and all the
things of religion; and recognize,
admire and serve the inner forces
of the child and humbly set
ourselves aside with the intention
of cooperating so that the
personality of the child with its
inner presence is always before
us.
 This must be the basis of
education. The task set before
themselves by masters has
generally been to mould soft
material and fill empty vessels,
but we must set ourselves to see
the marvels hidden in the child
and help him to unfold them.”
The Child, Society and the World;
Chapter 3
Just as there is a tendency to
develop language in every
man, so there is a tendency
to develop religion.
Language and religion are
the two characteristics of
every group of men…
…if we lack religion we
lack something
fundamental for the
development of man.
Maria Montessori
The Child, Society and the World,
Chapter 3
If you have not got a
vision of the child’s soul,
you cannot help it in its
development.
Maria Montessori