31/08/2021
Celebrating Maria Montessori on the date of her birth, 31 August 1870.
In a speech at the Montessori Training College, Mahatma Gandhi said to Maria Montessori:
“You have very truly remarked that ‘if we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children.’ If they grow up in their natural innocence, we won’t have the struggle, we won’t have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the whole world is hungering." (Ghandi, M. (28 October 1931) Speech at Montessori Training College Young India, 19/11/31).
The full speech is available here: bit.ly/MEGandhi
We continue to be inspired and guided by the essence of Montessori's work which invites us to "unite in a common aim" and "respect ... this delicate work of formation, which the little child carries on in the depth of a profound psychological mystery, under the tutelage of an inner guide. This is the bright new hope for mankind" (Montessori, M. The Absorbent Mind, 2007: 24, Kindle Edition).