“The great constructive energies of the child ... have hitherto been concealed beneath an accumulation of ideas concerning motherhood. We used to say it was the mother who formed the child; for it is she who teaches him to walk, talk, and so on. But none of this is really done by the mother. It is an achievement of the child. What the mother brings forth is the baby, but it is the baby who produces the man. Should the mother die, the baby still grows up and completes his work of making the man.” MenShouldChildrenStillsIdeasDoneUsedMotherDiesEnergyGrowsGrowthWalksTeachGrowing UpProduceHe ManBabyAchievementMotherhoodConstructiveAccumulationConcealed Author:Maria Montessori
“The child's true constructive energy, a dynamic power, has remained unnoticed for thousands of years. Just as men have trodden the earth, and later tilled its surface, without thought for the immense wealth hidden in its depths, so the men of our day make progress after progress in civilized life, without noticing the treasures that lie hidden in the psychic world of infancy.” MenWorldYearsChildrenEarthLyingEnergyWealthProgressHe ManDepthSurfaceTreasureCivilizedImmensePsychicsConstructiveNoticingInfancyUnnoticed Author:Maria Montessori
“Money and electricity are much alike. Both are stored energy. Living amidst electricity, using it constantly, you take its presence and its utility for granted. Treated with respect, it is constructive, tireless. Treated with disrespect, it is destructive, vicious. It will light your way, pull a twelve-car train from Washington to New York in a bit more than four hours, kill you or burn your house alike. Electricity is insulated, though, and children are not permitted to play with it.” WayChildrenPlayLightHouseEnergyBitsHoursMoneyFourCarNew YorkTrainTreatedGrantedDestructiveTwelveElectricityViciousUtilityConstructiveDisrespect Book:Father Struck It Rich Source: Father Struck It Rich
“The most fearful phenomenon of these midcentury years is not the atom bomb; atomic energy does have its constructive possibilities.... The most fearful event of these times is the colossal expansion of the government of the United States and the constant increase of executive power within the government.” YearsDoeStatesGovernmentAmericaEnergyUnitedUnited StatesEventsPossibilityIncreaseConstantBombsExecutivesPhenomenonAtomsFearfulExpansionConstructiveColossalAtom BombAtomic EnergyExecutive Power Author:Wheeler McMillen
“As the brain of man is the speck of dust in the universe that thinks, so the leaves—the fern and the needled pine and the latticed frond and the seaweed ribbon—perceive the light in a fundamental and constructive sense. … Their leaves see the light, as my eyes can never do. … They impound its stellar energy, and with that force they make life out of the elements.” ThinkingMenLightEyeUniverseEnergyForceBrainElementsFundamentalsDustPerceiveConstructiveRibbonsSpecksSeaweedStellarFerns Author:Donald C. Peattie
“The organization of supplies, the command of men, anything in any way constructive requires more than intellect; it requires energy and drive and an unrelenting will to serve the cause, regardless of one's personal interests.” MenWayEnergyCausesInterestOrganizationIntellectCommandConstructiveSuppliesUnrelentingPersonal Interest Author:Erwin Rommel