,,the ,,education ,,of ,,the ,,child  by
 ,ellen ,key     ,,introductory ,,note  
,edward ,bok1 ,editor of the ,ladies'   
,home ,journal1 writes3  ,nothing finer 
on the wise education of the child has  
ever been brought into print4 ,to me    
this chapter is a perfect classic2 it   
points the way straight for every parent
 and it should find a place in every    
home in ,america where there is a child4
     ,,the ,,education ,,of ,,the       
,,child  ,goethe showed long ago in his 
,werther a clear understanding of the   
significance of individualistic and     
psychological training1 an appreciation 
which will mark the century of the      
child4 ,in this work he shows how the   
future power of will lies hidden in the 
characteristics of the child1 and how   
along with every fault of the child an  
uncorrupted germ capable of producing   
good is enclosed4 ,always1 he says1 ,i  
repeat the golden words of the teacher  
of mankind1 'if ye do not become as one 
of these1' and now1 good friend1 those  

who are our equals1 whom we should look 
upon as our models1 we treat as         
subjects2 they should have no will of   
their own2 do we have none8 ,where is   
our prerogative8 ,does it consist in the
 fact that we are older and more        
experienced8 ,good ,god of ,heaven6     
,thou seest old and young children1     
nothing else4 ,and in whom ,thou hast   
more joy1 ,thy ,son announced ages ago4 
,but people believe in ,him and do not  
hear ,him--that1 too1 is an old trouble1
 and they model their children after    
themselves4 ,the same criticism might be
 applied to our present educators1 who  
constantly have on their tongues such   
words as evolution1 individuality1 and  
natural tendencies1 but do not heed the 
new commandments in which they say they 
believe4 ,they continue to educate as if
 they believed still in the natural     
depravity of man1 in original sin1 which
 may be bridled1 tamed1 suppressed1 but 
not changed4 ,the new belief is really  
equivalent to ,goethe's thoughts given  

above1 i4e41 that almost every fault is 
but a hard shell enclosing the germ of  
virtue4 ,even men of modern times still 
follow in education the old rule of     
medicine1 that evil must be driven out  
by evil1 instead of the new method1 the 
system of allowing nature quietly and   
slowly to help itself1 taking care only 
that the surrounding conditions help the
 work of nature4 ,this is education4    
,neither harsh nor tender parents       
suspect the truth expressed by ,carlyle 
when he said that the marks of a noble  
and original temperament are wild1      
strong emotions1 that must be controlled
 by a discipline as hard as steel4      
,people either strive to root out       
passions altogether1 or they abstain    
from teaching the child to get them     
under control4  ,to suppress the real   
personality of the child1 and to        
supplant it with another personality    
continues to be a pedagogical crime     
common to those who announce loudly that
 education should only develop the real 

individual nature of the child4  ,they  
are still not convinced that egoism on  
the part of the child is justified4     
,just as little are they convinced of   
the possibility that evil can be changed
 into good4  ,education must be based on
 the certainty that faults cannot be    
atoned for1 or blotted out1 but must    
always have their consequences4 ,at the 
same time1 there is the other certainty 
that through progressive evolution1 by  
slow adaptation to the conditions of    
environment they may be transformed4    
,only when this stage is reached will   
education begin to be a science and art4
 ,we will then give up all belief in the
 miraculous effects of sudden           
interference2 we shall act in the       
psychological sphere in accordance with 
the principle of the indestructibility  
of matter4 ,we shall never believe that 
a characteristic of the soul can be     
destroyed4 ,there are but two           
possibilities4 ,either it can be brought
 into subjection or it can be raised up 

to a higher plane4  ,madame de ,stael's 
words show much insight when she says   
that only the people who can play with  
children are able to educate them4 ,for 
success in training children the first  
condition is to become as a child       
oneself1 but this means no assumed      
childishness1 no condescending baby-talk
 that the child immediately sees through
 and deeply abhors4 ,what it does mean  
is to be as entirely and simply taken up
 with the child as the child himself is 
absorbed by his life4 ,it means to treat
 the child as really one's equal1 that  
is1 to show him the same consideration1 
the same kind confidence one shows to an
 adult4 ,it means not to influence the  
child to be what we ourselves desire him
 to become but to be influenced by the  
impression of what the child himself is2
 not to treat the child with deception1 
or by the exercise of force1 but with   
the seriousness and sincerity proper to 
his own character4 ,somewhere ,rousseau 
says that all education has failed in   

that nature does not fashion parents as 
educators nor children for the sake of  
education4 ,what would happen if we     
finally succeeded in following the      
directions of nature1 and recognised    
that the great secret of education lies 
hidden in the maxim1 do not educate8    
,not leaving the child in peace is the  
greatest evil of present-day methods of 
training children4 ,education is        
determined to create a beautiful world  
externally and internally in which the  
child can grow4 ,to let him move about  
freely in this world until he comes into
 contact with the permanent boundaries  
of another's right will be the end of   
the education of the future4 ,only then 
will adults really obtain a deep insight
 into the souls of children1 now an     
almost inaccessible kingdom4 ,for it is 
a natural instinct of self-preservation 
which causes the child to bar the       
educator from his innermost nature4     
,there is the person who asks rude      
questions2 for example1 what is the     

child thinking about8 a question which  
almost invariably is answered with a    
black or a white lie4 ,the child must   
protect himself from an educator who    
would master his thoughts and           
inclinations1 or rudely handle them1 who
 without consideration betrays or makes 
ridiculous his most sacred feelings1 who
 exposes faults or praises              
characteristics before strangers1 or    
even uses an open-hearted1 confidential 
confession as an occasion for reproof at
 another time4  ,the statement that no  
human being learns to understand        
another1 or at least to be patient with 
another1 is true above all of the       
intimate relation of child and parent in
 which1 understanding1 the deepest      
characteristic of love1 is almost always
 absent4  ,parents do not see that      
during the whole life the need of peace 
is never greater than in the years of   
childhood1 an inner peace under all     
external unrest4 ,the child has to enter
 into relations with his own infinite   

world1 to conquer it1 to make it the    
object of his dreams4 ,but what does he 
experience8 ,obstacles1 interference1   
corrections1 the whole livelong day4    
,the child is always required to leave  
something alone1 or to do something     
different1 to find something different1 
or want something different from what he
 does1 or finds1 or wants4 ,he is always
 shunted off in another direction from  
that towards which his own character is 
leading him4 ,all of this is caused by  
our tenderness1 vigilance1 and zeal1 in 
directing1 advising1 and helping the    
small specimen of humanity to become a  
complete example in a model series4  ,i 
have heard a three-year-old child       
characterised as trying because he      
wanted to go into the woods1 whereas the
 nursemaid wished to drag him into the  
city4 ,another child of six years was   
disciplined because she had been naughty
 to a playmate and had called her a     
little pig1--a natural appellation for  
one who was always dirty4 ,these are    

typical examples of how the sound       
instincts of the child are dulled4 ,it  
was a spontaneous utterance3 of the     
childish heart when a small boy1 after  
an account of the heaven of good        
children1 asked his mother whether she  
did not believe that1 after he had been 
good a whole week in heaven1 he might be
 allowed to go to hell on ,saturday     
evening to play with the bad little boys
 there4  ,the child felt in its         
innermost consciousness that he had a   
right to be naughty1 a fundamental right
 which is accorded to adults2 and not   
only to be naughty1 but to be naughty in
 peace1 to be left to the dangers and   
joys of naughtiness4  ,to call forth    
from this unvirtue the complimentary    
virtue is to overcome evil with good4   
,otherwise we overcome natural strength 
by weak means and obtain artificial     
virtues which will not stand the tests  
which life imposes4  ,it seems simple   
enough when we say that we must overcome
 evil with good1 but practically no     

process is more involved1 or more       
tedious1 than to find actual means to   
accomplish this end4 ,it is much easier 
to say what one shall not do than what  
one must do to change self-will into    
strength of character1 slyness into     
prudence1 the desire to please into     
amiability1 restlessness into personal  
initiative4 ,it can only be brought     
about by recognising that evil1 in so   
far as it is not atavistic or perverse1 
is as natural and indispensable as the  
good1 and that it becomes a permanent   
evil only through its one-sided         
supremacy4  ,the educator wants the     
child to be finished at once1 and       
perfect4 ,he forces upon the child an   
unnatural degree of self-mastery1 a     
devotion to duty1 a sense of honour1    
habits that adults get out of with      
astonishing rapidity4 ,where the faults 
of children are concerned1 at home and  
in school1 we strain at gnats1 while    
children daily are obliged to swallow   
the camels of grown people4  ,the art of

 natural education consists in ignoring 
the faults of children nine times out of
 ten1 in avoiding immediate             
interference1 which is usually a        
mistake1 and devoting one's whole       
vigilance to the control of the         
environment in which the child is       
growing up1 to watching the education   
which is allowed to go on by itself4    
,but educators who1 day in and day out1 
are consciously transforming the        
environment and themselves are still a  
rare product4 ,most people live on the  
capital and interest of an education1   
which perhaps once made them model      
children1 but has deprived them of the  
desire for educating themselves4 ,only  
by keeping oneself in constant process  
of growth1 under the constant influence 
of the best things in one's own age1    
does one become a companion half-way    
good enough for one's children4  ,to    
bring up a child means carrying one's   
soul in one's hand1 setting one's feet  
on a narrow path1 it means never placing

 ourselves in danger of meeting the cold
 look on the part of the child that     
tells us without words that he finds us 
insufficient and unreliable4 ,it means  
the humble realisation of the truth that
 the ways of injuring the child are     
infinite1 while the ways of being useful
 to him are few4 ,how seldom does the   
educator remember that the child1 even  
at four or five years of age1 is making 
experiments with adults1 seeing through 
them1 with marvellous shrewdness making 
his own valuations and reacting         
sensitively to each impression4 ,the    
slightest mistrust1 the smallest        
unkindness1 the least act of injustice  
or contemptuous ridicule1 leave wounds  
that last for life in the finely strung 
soul of the child4 ,while on the other  
side unexpected friendliness1 kind      
advances1 just indignation1 make quite  
as deep an impression on those senses   
which people term as soft as wax but    
treat as if they were made of cowhide4  
,relatively most excellent was the old  

education which consisted solely in     
keeping oneself whole1 pure1 and        
honourable4 ,for it did not at least    
depreciate personality1 although it did 
not form it4 ,it would be well if but a 
hundredth part of the pains now taken by
 parents were given to interference with
 the life of the child and the rest of  
the ninety and nine employed in leading1
 without interference1 in acting as an  
unforeseen1 an invisible providence     
through which the child obtains         
experience1 from which he may draw his  
own conclusions4 ,the present practice  
is to impress one's own discoveries1    
opinions1 and principles on the child by
 constantly directing his actions4 ,the 
last thing to be realised by the        
educator is that he really has before   
him an entirely new soul1 a real self   
whose first and chief right is to think 
over the things with which he comes in  
contact4 ,by a new soul he understands  
only a new generation of an old humanity
 to be treated with a fresh dose of the 

old remedy4 ,we teach the new souls not 
to steal1 not to lie1 to save their     
clothes1 to learn their lessons1 to     
economise their money1 to obey commands1
 not to contradict older people1 say    
their prayers1 to fight occasionally in 
order to be strong4 ,but who teaches the
 new souls to choose for themselves the 
path they must tread8 ,who thinks that  
the desire for this path of their own   
can be so profound that a hard or even  
mild pressure towards uniformity can    
make the whole of childhood a torment4  
,the child comes into life with the     
inheritance of the preceding members of 
the race2 and this inheritance is       
modified by adaptation to the           
environment4 ,but the child shows also  
individual variations from the type of  
the species1 and if his own character is
 not to disappear during the process of 
adaptation1 all self-determined         
development of energy must be aided in  
every way and only indirectly influenced
 by the teacher1 who should understand  

how to combine and emphasise the results
 of this development4  ,interference on 
the part of the educator1 whether by    
force or persuasion1 weakens this       
development if it does not destroy it   
altogether4  ,the habits of the         
household1 and the child's habits in it 
must be absolutely fixed if they are to 
be of any value4 ,amiel truly says that 
habits are principles which have become 
instincts1 and have passed over into    
flesh and blood4 ,to change habits1 he  
continues1 means to attack life in its  
very essence1 for life is only a web of 
habits4  ,why does everything remain    
essentially the same from generation to 
generation8 ,why do highly civilised    
,christian people continue to plunder   
one another and call it exchange1 to    
murder one another en masse1 and call it
 nationalism1 to oppress one another and
 call it statesmanship8  ,because in    
every new generation the impulses       
supposed to have been rooted out by     
discipline in the child1 break forth    

again1 when the struggle for            
existence--of the individual in society1
 of the society in the life of the      
state--begins4 ,these passions are not  
transformed by the prevalent education  
of the day1 but only repressed4         
,practically this is the reason why not 
a single savage passion has been        
overcome in humanity4 ,perhaps          
man-eating may be mentioned as an       
exception4 ,but what is told of         
,european ship companies or ,siberian   
prisoners shows that even this impulse1 
under conditions favourable to it1 may  
be revived1 although in the majority of 
people a deep physical antipathy to     
man-eating is innate4 ,conscious incest1
 despite similar deviations1 must also  
be physically contrary to the majority1 
and in a number of women1 modesty--the  
unity between body and soul in relation 
to love--is an incontestable provision  
of nature4 ,so too a minority would find
 it physically impossible to murder or  
steal4 ,with this list ,i have exhausted

 everything which mankind1 since its    
conscious history began1 has really so  
intimately acquired that the achievement
 is passed on in its flesh and blood4   
,only this kind of conquest can really  
stand up against temptation in every    
form4  ,a deep physiological truth is   
hidden in the use of language when one  
speaks of unchained passions2 the       
passions1 under the prevailing system of
 education1 are really only beasts of   
prey imprisoned in cages4  ,while fine  
words are spoken about individual       
development1 children are treated as if 
their personality had no purpose of its 
own1 as if they were made only for the  
pleasure1 pride1 and comfort of their   
parents2 and as these aims are best     
advanced when children become like every
 one else1 people usually begin by      
attempting to make them respectable and 
useful members of society4  ,but the    
only correct starting point1 so far as a
 child's education in becoming a social 
human being is concerned1 is to treat   

him as such1 while strengthening his    
natural disposition to become an        
individual human being4  ,the new       
educator will1 by regularly ordered     
experience1 teach the child by degrees  
his place in the great orderly system of
 existence2 teach him his responsibility
 towards his environment4 ,but in other 
respects1 none of the individual        
characteristics of the child expressive 
of his life will be suppressed1 so long 
as they do not injure the child himself1
 or others4 ,the right balance must be  
kept between ,spencer's definition of   
life as an adaptation to surrounding    
conditions1 and ,nietzsche's definition 
of it as the will to secure power4  ,in 
adaptation1 imitation certainly plays a 
great role1 but individual exercise of  
power is just as important4 ,through    
adaptation life attains a fixed form2   
through exercise of power1 new factors4 
,thoughtful people1 as ,i have already  
stated1 talk a good deal about          
personality4 ,but they are1             

nevertheless1 filled with doubts when   
their children are not just like all    
other children2 when they cannot show in
 their offspring all the ready-made     
virtues required by society4 ,and so    
they drill their children1 repressing in
 childhood the natural instincts which  
will have freedom when they are grown4  
,people still hardly realise how new    
human beings are formed2 therefore the  
old types constantly repeat themselves  
in the same circle1--the fine young men1
 the sweet girls1 the respectable       
officials1 and so on4 ,and new types    
with higher ideals1--travellers on      
unknown paths1 thinkers of yet unthought
 thoughts1 people capable of the crime  
of inaugurating new ways1--such types   
rarely come into existence among those  
who are well brought up4  ,nature       
herself1 it is true1 repeats the main   
types constantly4 ,but she also         
constantly makes small deviations4 ,in  
this way different species1 even of the 
human race1 have come into existence4   

,but man himself does not yet see the   
significance of this natural law in his 
own higher development4 ,he wants the   
feelings1 thoughts1 and judgments       
already stamped with approval to be     
reproduced by each new generation4 ,so  
we get no new individuals1 but only more
 or less prudent1 stupid1 amiable1 or   
bad-tempered examples of the genus man4 
,the still living instincts of the ape1 
double1 in the case of man1 the effect  
of heredity4 ,conservatism is for the   
present stronger in mankind than the    
effort to produce new types4 ,but this  
last characteristic is the most         
valuable4 ,the educator should do       
anything but advise the child to do what
 everybody does4 ,he should rather      
rejoice when he sees in the child       
tendencies to deviation4 ,using other   
people's opinion as a standard results  
in subordinating one's self to their    
will4 ,so we become a part of the great 
mass1 led by the ,superman through the  
strength of his will1 a will which could

 not have mastered strong personalities4
 ,it has been justly remarked that      
individual peoples1 like the ,english1  
have attained the greatest political and
 social freedom1 because the personal   
feeling of independence is far in excess
 of freedom in a legal form4            
,accordingly legal freedom has been     
constantly growing4  ,for the progress  
of the whole of the species1 as well as 
of society1 it is essential that        
education shall awake the feeling of    
independence2 it should invigorate and  
favour the disposition to deviate from  
the type in those cases where the rights
 of others are not affected1 or where   
deviation is not simply the result of   
the desire to draw attention to oneself4
 ,the child should be given the chance  
to declare conscientiously his          
independence of a customary usage1 of an
 ordinary feeling1 for this is the      
foundation of the education of an       
individual1 as well as the basis of a   
collective conscience1 which is the only

 kind of conscience men now have4 ,what 
does having an individual conscience    
mean8 ,it means submitting voluntarily  
to an external law1 attested and found  
good by my own conscience4 ,it means    
unconditionally heeding the unwritten   
law1 which ,i lay upon myself1 and      
following this inner law even when ,i   
must stand alone against the whole      
world4  ,it is a frequent phenomenon1 we
 can almost call it a regular one1 that 
it is original natures1 particularly    
talented beings1 who are badly treated  
at home and in school4 ,no one considers
 the sources of conduct in a child who  
shows fear or makes a noise1 or who is  
absorbed in himself1 or who has an      
impetuous nature4 ,mothers and teachers 
show in this their pitiable incapacity  
for the most elementary part in the art 
of education1 that is1 to be able to see
 with their own eyes1 not with          
pedagogical doctrines in their head4  ,i
 naturally expect in the supporters of  
society1 with their conventional        

morality1 no appreciation of the        
significance of the child's putting into
 exercise his own powers4 ,just as      
little is this to be expected of those  
,christian believers who think that     
human nature must be brought to         
repentance and humility1 and that the   
sinful body1 the unclean beast1 must be 
tamed with the rod1--a theory which the 
,bible is brought to support4  ,i am    
only addressing people who can think new
 thoughts and consequently should cease 
using old methods of education4 ,this   
class may reply that the new ideas in   
education cannot be carried out4 ,but   
the obstacle is simply that their new   
thoughts have not made them into new    
men2 the old man in them has neither    
repose1 nor time1 nor patience1 to form 
his own soul1 and that of the child1    
according to the new thoughts4  ,those  
who have tried ,spencer and failed1     
because ,spencer's method demands       
intelligence and patience1 contend that 
the child must be taught to obey1 that  

truth lies in the old rule1 ,as the twig
 is bent the tree is inclined4  ,,bent  
is the appropriate word1 bent according 
to the old ideal which extinguishes     
personality1 teaches humility and       
obedience4 ,but the new ideal is that   
man1 to stand straight and upright1 must
 not be bent at all only supported1 and 
so prevented from being deformed by     
weakness4  ,one often finds1 in the     
modern system of training1 the crude    
desire for mastery still alive and      
breaking out when the child is          
obstinate4 ,you won't6 say father and   
mother2 ,i will teach you whether you   
have a will4 ,i will soon drive         
self-will out of you4 ,but nothing can  
be driven out of the child2 on the other
 hand1 much can be scourged into it     
which should be kept far away4  ,only   
during the first few years of life is a 
kind of drill necessary1 as a           
pre-condition to a higher training4 ,the
 child is then in such a high degree    
controlled by sensation1 that a slight  

physical pain or pleasure is often the  
only language he fully understands4     
,consequently for some children         
discipline is an indispensable means of 
enforcing the practice of certain       
habits4 ,for other children1 the        
stricter methods are entirely           
unnecessary even at this early age1 and 
as soon as the child can remember a     
blow1 he is too old to receive one4     
,the child must certainly learn         
obedience1 and1 besides1 this obedience 
must be absolute4 ,if such obedience has
 become habitual from the tenderest age1
 a look1 a word1 an intonation is enough
 to keep the child straight4 ,the       
dissatisfaction of those who are        
bringing him up can only be made        
effective when it falls as a shadow in  
the usual sunny atmosphere of home4 ,and
 if people refrain from laying the      
foundations of obedience while the child
 is small1 and his naughtiness is       
entertaining1 ,spencer's method         
undoubtedly will be found unsuitable    

after the child is older and his caprice
 disagreeable4  ,with a very small      
child1 one should not argue1 but act    
consistently and immediately4 ,the      
effort of training should be directed at
 an early period to arrange the         
experiences in a consistent whole of    
impressions according to ,rousseau and  
,spencer's recommendation4 ,so certain  
habits will become impressed in the     
flesh and blood of the child4  ,constant
 crying on the part of small children   
must be corrected when it has become    
clear that the crying is not caused by  
illness or some other                   
discomfort1--discomforts against which  
crying is the child's only weapon4      
,crying is now ordinarily corrected by  
blows4 ,but this does not master the    
will of the child1 and only produces in 
his soul the idea that older people     
strike small children1 when small       
children cry4 ,this is not an ethical   
idea4 ,but when the crying child is     
immediately isolated1 and it is         

explained to him at the same time that  
whoever annoys others must not be with  
them2 if this isolation is the absolute 
result1 and cannot be avoided1 in the   
child's mind a basis is laid for the    
experience that one must be alone when  
one makes oneself unpleasant or         
disagreeable4 ,in both cases the child  
is silenced by interfering with his     
comfort2 but one type of discomfort is  
the exercise of force on his will2 the  
other produces slowly the self-mastery  
of the will1 and accomplishes this by a 
good motive4 ,one method encourages a   
base emotion1 fear4 ,the other corrects 
the will in a way that combines it with 
one of the most important experiences of
 life4 ,the one punishment keeps the    
child on the level of the animal4 ,the  
other impresses upon him the great      
principle of human social life1 that    
when our pleasure causes displeasure to 
others1 other people hinder us from     
following our pleasures2 or withdraw    
themselves from the exercise of our     

self-will4 ,it is necessary that small  
children should accustom themselves to  
good behaviour at table1 etc4 ,if every 
time an act of naughtiness is repeated1 
the child is immediately taken away1 he 
will soon learn that whoever is         
disagreeable to others must remain      
alone4 ,thus a right application is made
 of a right principle4 ,small children1 
too1 must learn not to touch what       
belongs to other people4 ,if every time 
anything is touched without permission1 
children lose their freedom of action   
one way or another1 they soon learn that
 a condition of their free action is not
 to injure others4  ,it is quite true1  
as a young mother remarked1 that empty  
,japanese rooms are ideal places in     
which to bring up children4 ,our modern 
crowded rooms are1 so far as children   
are concerned1 to be condemned4 ,during 
the year in which the real education of 
the child is proceeding by touching1    
tasting1 biting1 feeling1 and so on1    
every moment he is hearing the cry1 ,let

 it alone4 ,for the temperament of the  
child as well as for the development of 
his powers1 the best thing is a large1  
light nursery1 adorned with handsome    
lithographs1 wood-cuts1 and so on1      
provided with some simple furniture1    
where he may enjoy the fullest freedom  
of movement4 ,but if the child is there 
with his parents and is disobedient1 a  
momentary reprimand is the best means to
 teach him to reverence the greater     
world in which the will of others       
prevails1 the world in which the child  
certainly can make a place for himself  
but must also learn that every place    
occupied by him has its limits4  ,if it 
is a case of a danger1 which it is      
desirable that the child should really  
dread1 we must allow the thing itself to
 have an alarming influence4 ,when a    
mother strikes a child because he       
touches the light1 the result is that he
 does this again when the mother is     
away4 ,but let him burn himself with the
 light1 then he is certain to leave it  

alone4 ,in riper years when a boy       
misuses a knife1 a toy1 or something    
similar1 the loss of the object for the 
time being must be the punishment4 ,most
 boys would prefer corporal punishment  
to the loss of their favourite          
possession4 ,but only the loss of it    
will be a real education through        
experience of one of the inevitable     
rules of life1 an experience which      
cannot be too strongly impressed4  ,we  
hear parents who have begun with        
,spencer and then have taken to corporal
 punishment declare that when children  
are too small to repair the clothing    
which they have torn there must be some 
other kind of punishment4 ,but at that  
age they should not be punished at all  
for such things4 ,they should have such 
simple and strong clothes that they can 
play freely in them4 ,later on1 when    
they can be really careful1 the natural 
punishment would be to have the child   
remain at home if he is careless1 has   
spotted his clothes1 or torn them4 ,he  

must be shown that he must help to put  
his clothes in good condition again1 or 
that he will be compelled to buy what he
 has destroyed carelessly with money    
earned by himself4 ,if the child is not 
careful1 he must stay at home1 when     
ordinarily allowed to go out1 or eat    
alone if he is too late for meals4 ,it  
may be said that there are simple means 
by which all the important habits of    
social life may become a second nature4 
,but it is not possible in all cases to 
apply ,spencer's method4 ,the natural   
consequences occasionally endanger the  
health of the child1 or sometimes are   
too slow in their action4 ,if it seems  
necessary to interfere directly1 such   
action must be consistent1 quick1 and   
immutable4 ,how is it that the child    
learns very soon that fire burns8       
,because fire does so always4 ,but the  
mother who at one time strikes1 at      
another threatens1 at another bribes the
 child1 first forbids and then          
immediately after permits some action2  

who does not carry out her threat1 does 
not compel obedience1 but constantly    
gabbles and scolds2 who sometimes acts  
in one way and just as often in another1
 has not learned the effective          
educational methods of the fire4  ,the  
old-fashioned strict training that in   
its crude way gave to the character a   
fixed type rested on its consistent     
qualities4 ,it was consistently strict1 
not as at present a lax hesitation      
between all kinds of pedagogical methods
 and psychological opinions1 in which   
the child is thrown about here and there
 like a ball1 in the hands of grown     
people2 at one time pushed forward1 then
 laughed at1 then pushed aside1 only to 
be brought back again1 kissed till it1  
is disgusted1 first ordered about1 and  
then coaxed4 ,a grown man would become  
insane if joking ,titans treated him for
 a single day as a child is treated for 
a year4 ,a child should not be ordered  
about1 but should be just as courteously
 addressed as a grown person in order   

that he may learn courtesy4 ,a child    
should never be pushed into notice1     
never compelled to endure caresses1     
never overwhelmed with kisses1 which    
ordinarily torment him and are often the
 cause of sexual hyperaesthesia4 ,the   
child's demonstrations of affection     
should be reciprocated when they are    
sincere1 but one's own demonstrations   
should be reserved for special          
occasions4 ,this is one of the many     
excellent maxims of training that are   
disregarded4 ,nor should the child be   
forced to express regret in begging     
pardon and the like4 ,this is excellent 
training for hypocrisy4 ,a small child  
once had been rude to his elder brother 
and was placed upon a chair to repent   
his fault4 ,when the mother after a time
 asked if he was sorry1 he answered1    
,yes1 with emphasis1 but as the mother  
saw a mutinous sparkle in his eyes she  
felt impelled to ask1 ,sorry for what8  
and the youngster broke out1 ,sorry that
 ,i did not call him a liar besides4    

,the mother was wise enough on this     
occasion1 and ever after1 to give up    
insisting on repentance4  ,spontaneous  
penitence is full of significance1 it is
 a deeply felt desire for pardon4 ,but  
an artificial emotion is always and     
everywhere worthless4 ,are you not      
sorry8 ,does it make no difference to   
you that your mother is ill1 your       
brother dead1 your father away from     
home8 ,such expressions are often used  
as an appeal to the emotions of         
children4 ,but children have a right to 
have feelings1 or not have them1 and to 
have them as undisturbed as grown       
people4 ,the same holds good of their   
sympathies and antipathies4 ,the        
sensitive feelings of children are      
constantly injured by lack of           
consideration on the part of grown      
people1 their easily stimulated         
aversions are constantly being brought  
out4 ,but the sufferings of children    
through the crudeness of their elders   
belong to an unwritten chapter of child 

psychology4 ,just as there are few      
better methods of training than to ask  
children1 when they have behaved        
unjustly to others1 to consider whether 
it would be pleasant for them to be     
treated in that way1 so there is no     
better corrective for the trainer of    
children than the habit of asking       
oneself1 in question small and          
great1--,would ,i consent to be treated 
as ,i have just treated my child8 ,if it
 were only remembered that the child    
generally suffers double as much as the 
adult1 parents would perhaps learn      
physical and psychical tenderness       
without which a child's life is a       
constant torment4  ,as to presents1 the 
same principle holds good as with       
emotions and marks of tenderness4 ,only 
by example can generous instincts be    
provoked4 ,above all the child should   
not be allowed to have things which he  
immediately gives away4 ,gifts to a     
child should always imply a personal    
requital for work or sacrifice4 ,in     

order to secure for children the        
pleasure of giving and the opportunity  
of obtaining small pleasures and        
enjoyments1 as well as of replacing     
property of their own or of others which
 they may have destroyed1 they should at
 an early age be accustomed to perform  
seriously certain household duties for  
which they receive some small           
remuneration4 ,but small occasional     
services1 whether volunteered or asked  
for by others1 should never be rewarded4
 ,only readiness to serve1 without      
payment1 develops the joy of generosity4
 ,when the child wants to give away     
something1 people should not make a     
presence of receiving it4 ,this produces
 the false conception in his mind that  
the pleasure of being generous can be   
had for nothing4 ,at every step the     
child should be allowed to meet the real
 experiences of life2 the thorns should 
never be plucked from his roses4 ,this  
is what is least understood in          
present-day training4 ,thus we see      

reasonable methods constantly failing4  
,people find themselves forced to       
afflictive methods which stand in no    
relation with the realities of life4 ,i 
mean1 above all1 what are still called  
means of education1 instead of means of 
torture1--blows4  ,many people of to-day
 defend blows1 maintaining that they are
 milder means of punishment than the    
natural consequences of an act2 that    
blows have the strongest effect on the  
memory1 which effect becomes permanent  
through association of ideas4  ,but what
 kinds of association8 ,is it not with  
physical pain and shame8 ,gradually1    
step by step1 this method of training   
and discipline has been superseded in   
all its forms4 ,the movement to abolish 
torture1 imprisonment1 and corporal     
punishment failed for a long time owing 
to the conviction that they were        
indispensable as methods of discipline4 
,but the child1 people answer1 is still 
an animal1 he must be brought up as an  
animal4 ,those who talk in this way know

 nothing of children nor of animals4    
,even animals can be trained without    
striking them1 but they can only be     
trained by men who have become men      
themselves4  ,others come forward with  
the doctrine that terror and pain have  
been the best means of educating        
mankind1 so the child must pursue the   
same road as humanity4 ,this is an utter
 absurdity4 ,we should also1 on this    
theory1 teach our children1 as a natural
 introduction to religion1 to practice  
fetish worship4 ,if the child is to     
reproduce all the lower development     
stages of the race1 he would be         
practically depressed beneath the level 
which he has reached physiologically and
 psychologically through the common     
inheritance of the race4 ,if we have    
abandoned torture and painful           
punishments for adults1 while they are  
retained for children1 it is because we 
have not yet seen that their soul life  
so far as a greater and more subtle     
capacity for suffering is concerned has 

made the same progress as that of adult 
mankind4 ,the numerous cases of child   
suicide in the last decade were often   
the result of fear of corporal          
punishment2 or have taken place after   
its administration4 ,both soul and body 
are equally affected by this practice4  
,where this is not the result1 blows    
have even more dangerous consequences4  
,they tend to dull still further the    
feeling of shame1 to increase the       
brutality or cowardice of the person    
punished4 ,i once heard a child pointed 
out in a school as being so unruly that 
it was generally agreed he would be     
benefited by a flogging4 ,then it was   
discovered that his father's flogging at
 home had made him what he was4 ,if     
statistics were prepared of ruined sons1
 those who had been flogged would       
certainly be more numerous than those   
who had been pampered4  ,society has    
gradually given up employing retributive
 punishments because people have seen   
that they neither awaken the feeling of 

guilt1 nor act as a deterrent1 but on   
the contrary retribution applied by     
equal to equal brutalises the ideas of  
right1 hardens the temper1 and          
stimulates the victim to exercise the   
same violence towards others that has   
been endured by himself4 ,but other     
rules are applied to the psychological  
processes of the child4 ,when a child   
strikes his small sister the mother     
strikes him and believes that he will   
see and understand the difference       
between the blows he gets and those he  
gives1 that he will see that the one is 
a just punishment and the other vicious 
conduct4 ,but the child is a sharp      
logician and feels that the action is   
just the same1 although the mother gives
 it a different name4  ,corporal        
punishment was long ago admirably       
described by ,comenius1 who compared an 
educator using this method with a       
musician striking a badly tuned         
instrument with his fist1 instead of    
using his ears and his hands to put it  

into tune4  ,these brutal attacks work  
on the active sensitive feelings1       
lacerating and confusing them4 ,they    
have no educative power on all the      
innumerable fine processes in the life  
of the child's soul1 on their obscurely 
related combinations4  ,in order to give
 real training1 the first thing after   
the second or third year is to abandon  
the very thought of a blow among the    
possibilities of education4 ,it is best 
if parents1 as soon as the child is     
born1 agree never to strike him1 for if 
they once begin with this convenient and
 easy method1 they continue to use      
corporal discipline even contrary to    
their first intention1 because they have
 failed while using such punishment to  
develop the child's intelligence4  ,if  
people do not see this it is no more use
 to speak to them of education than it  
would be to talk to a cannibal about the
 world's peace4  ,but as these savages  
in educational matters are often        
civilised human beings in other         

respects1 ,i should like to request them
 to think over the development of       
marriage from the time when man wooed   
with a club and when woman was regarded 
as the soulless property of man1 only to
 be kept in order by blows1 a view which
 continued to be held until modern      
times4 ,through a thousand daily secret 
influences1 our feelings and ideas have 
been so transformed that these crude    
conceptions have disappeared1 to the    
great advantage of society and the      
individual4 ,but it may be hard to      
awaken a pedagogical savage to the      
conviction that1 in quite the same way1 
a thousand new secret and mighty        
influences will change our crude methods
 of education1 when parents once come to
 see that parenthood must go through the
 same transformation as marriage1 before
 it attains to a noble and complete     
development4  ,only when men realise    
that whipping a child belongs to the    
same low stage of civilisation as       
beating a woman1 or a servant1 or as the

 corporal punishment of soldiers and    
criminals1 will the first real          
preparation begin of the material from  
which perhaps later an educator may be  
formed4  ,corporal punishment was       
natural in rough times4 ,the body is    
tangible2 what affects it has an        
immediate and perceptible result4 ,the  
heat of passion is cooled by the blows  
it administers2 in a certain stage of   
development blows are the natural       
expression of moral indignation1 the    
direct method by which the moral will   
impresses itself on beings of lower     
capacities4 ,but it has since been      
discovered that the soul may be         
impressed by spiritual means1 and that  
blows are just as demoralising for the  
one who gives them as for the one who   
receives them4  ,the educator1 too1 is  
apt to forget that the child in many    
cases has as few moral conceptions as   
the animal or the savage4 ,to punish for
 this--is only a cruelty1 and to punish 
by brutal methods is a piece of         

stupidity4 ,it works against the        
possibility of elevating the child      
beyond the level of the beast or the    
savage4 ,the educator to whose mind     
flogging never presents itself1 even as 
an occasional resource1 will naturally  
direct his whole thought to finding     
psychological methods of education4     
,administering corporal punishment      
demoralises and stupefies the educator1 
for it increases his thoughtlessness1   
not his patience1 his brutality1 not his
 intelligence4  ,a small boy friend of  
mine when four years old received his   
first punishment of this kind2 happily  
it was his only one4 ,as his nurse      
reminded him in the evening to say his  
prayers he broke out1 ,yes1 to-night ,i 
really have something to tell ,god1 and 
prayed with deep earnestness1 ,dear     
,god1 tear mamma's arms out so that she 
cannot beat me any more4  ,nothing would
 more effectively further the           
development of education than for all   
flogging pedagogues to meet this fate4  

,they would then learn to educate with  
the head instead of with the hand4 ,and 
as to public educators1 the teachers1   
their position could be no better raised
 than by legally forbidding a blow to be
 administered in any school under       
penalty of final loss of position4      
,that people who are in other respects  
intelligent and sensitive continue to   
defend flogging1 is due to the fact that
 most educators have only a very        
elementary conception of their work4    
,they should constantly keep before them
 the feelings and impressions of their  
own childhood in dealing with children4 
,the most frequent as well as the most  
dangerous of the numerous mistakes made 
in handling children is that people do  
not remember how they felt themselves at
 a similar age1 that they do not regard 
and comprehend the feelings of the child
 from their own past point of view4 ,the
 adult laughs or smiles in remembering  
the punishments and other things which  
caused him in his childhood anxious days

 or nights1 which produced the silent   
torture of the child's heart1 infinite  
despondency1 burning indignation1 lonely
 fears1 outraged sense of justice1 the  
terrible creations of his imagination1  
his absurd shame1 his unsatisfied thirst
 for joy1 freedom1 and tenderness4      
,lacking these beneficent memories1     
adults constantly repeat the crime of   
destroying the childhood of the new     
generation1--the only time in life in   
which the guardian of education can     
really be a kindly providence4 ,so      
strongly do ,i feel that the unnecessary
 sufferings of children are unnatural as
 well as ignoble that ,i experience     
physical disgust in touching the hand of
 a human being that ,i know has struck a
 child2 and ,i cannot close my eyes     
after ,i have heard a child in the      
street threatened with corporal         
punishment4  ,blows call forth the      
virtues of slaves1 not those of freemen4
 ,as early as ,walther von der          
,vogelweide1 it was known that the      

honourable man respects a word more than
 a blow4 ,the exercise of physical force
 delivers the weak and unprotected into 
the hands of the strong4 ,a child never 
believes in his heart1 though he may be 
brought to acknowledge verbally1 that   
the blows were due to love1 that they   
were administered because they were     
necessary4 ,the child is too keen not to
 know that such a must does not exist1  
and that love can express itself in a   
better way4  ,lack of self-discipline1  
of intelligence1 of patience1 of        
personal effort--these are the          
corner-stones on which corporal         
punishment rests4 ,i do not now refer to
 the system of flogging employed by     
miserable people year in and year out at
 home1 or1 particularly in schools1 that
 of beating children outrageously1 or to
 the limits of brutality4 ,i do not mean
 even the less brutal blows administered
 by undisciplined teachers and parents1 
who avenge themselves in excesses of    
passion or fatigue or disgust1--blows   

which are simply the active expression  
of a tension of nerves1 a detestable    
evidence of the want of self-discipline 
and selfculture4 ,still less do ,i refer
 to the cruelties committed by monsters1
 sexual perverts1 whose brutal          
tendencies are stimulated by their      
disciplinary power and who use it to    
force their victims to silence1 as      
certain criminal trials have shown4  ,i 
am only speaking of conscientious1      
amiable parents and teachers who1 with  
pain to themselves1 fulfil what they    
regard as their duty to the child4      
,these are accustomed to adduce the good
 effects of corporal discipline as a    
proof that it cannot be dispensed with4 
,the child by being whipped is1 they    
say1 not only made good but freed from  
his evil character1 and shows by his    
whole being that this quick and summary 
method of punishment has done more than 
talks1 and patience1 and the slowly     
working penalties of experience4        
,examples are adduced to prove that only

 this kind of punishment breaks down    
obstinacy1 cures the habit of lying and 
the like4 ,those who adopt this system  
do not perceive that they have only     
succeeded1 through this momentarily     
effective means1 in repressing the      
external expression of an evil will4    
,they have not succeeded in transforming
 the will itself4 ,it requires constant 
vigilance1 daily self-discipline1 to    
create an ever higher capacity for the  
discovery of intelligent methods4 ,the  
fault that is repressed is certain to   
appear on every occasion when the child 
dares to show it4 ,the educator who     
finds in corporal punishment a short way
 to get rid of trouble1 leads the child 
a long way round1 if we have the only   
real development in view1 namely that   
which gradually strengthens the child's 
capacity for self-control4  ,i have     
never heard a child over three years old
 threatened with corporal punishment    
without noticing that this wonderfully  
moral method had an equally bad         

influence on parents and children4 ,the 
same can be said of milder kinds of     
folly1 coaxing children by external     
rewards4 ,i have seen some children     
coaxed to take baths and others         
compelled by threats4 ,but in neither   
case was their courage1 or self-control1
 or strength of will increased4 ,only   
when one is able to make the bath itself
 attractive is that energy of will      
developed that gains a victory over the 
feeling of fear or discomfort and       
produces a real ethical impression1     
viz41 that virtue is its own reward4    
,wherever a child is deterred from a bad
 habit or fault by corporal punishment1 
a real ethical result is not reached4   
,the child has only learnt to fear an   
unpleasant consequence1 which lacks real
 connection with the thing itself1 a    
consequence it well knows could have    
been absent4 ,such fear is as far       
removed as heaven from the conviction   
that the good is better than the bad4   
,the child soon becomes convinced that  

the disagreeable accompaniment is no    
necessary result of the action1 that by 
greater cleverness the punishment might 
have been avoided4 ,thus the physical   
punishment increases deception not      
morality4 ,in the history of humanity   
the effect of the teaching about hell   
and fear of hell illustrates the sort of
 morality produced in children's souls  
by corporal punishment1 that inferno of 
childhood4 ,only with the greatest      
trouble1 slowly and unconsciously1 is   
the conviction of the superiority of the
 good established4 ,the good comes to be
 seen as more productive of happiness to
 the individual himself and his         
environment4 ,so the child learns to    
love the good4 ,by teaching the child   
that punishment is a consequence drawn  
upon oneself he learns to avoid the     
cause of punishment4  ,despite all the  
new talk of individuality the greatest  
mistake in training children is still   
that of treating the child as an        
abstract conception1 as an inorganic or 

personal material to be formed and      
transformed by the hands of those who   
are educating him4 ,he is beaten1 and it
 is thought that the whole effect of the
 blow stops at the moment when the child
 is prevented from being bad4 ,he has1  
it is thought1 a powerful reminder      
against future bad behaviour4 ,people no
 not suspect that this violent          
interference in the physical and        
psychical life of the child may have    
lifelong effects4 ,as far back as forty 
years ago1 a writer showed that corporal
 punishment had the most powerful       
somatic stimulative effects4 ,the       
flagellation of the ,middle ,ages is    
known to have had such results2 and if  
,i could publish what ,i have heard from
 adults as to the effect of corporal    
punishment on them1 or what ,i have     
observed in children1 this alone would  
be decisive in doing away with such     
punishment in its crudest form4 ,it very
 deeply influences the personal modesty 
of the child4 ,this should be preserved 

above everything as the main factor in  
the development of the feeling of       
purity4 ,the father who punishes his    
daughter in this way deserves to see her
 some day a fallen woman4 ,he injures   
her instinctive feeling of the sanctity 
of her body1 an instinct which even in  
the case of a small child can be        
passionately profound4 ,only when every 
infringement of sanctity 7forcible      
caressing is as bad as a blow7 evokes an
 energetic1 instinctive repulsion1 is   
the nature of the child proud and pure4 
,children who strike back when they are 
punished have the most promising        
characters of all4  ,numerous are the   
cases in which bodily punishment can    
occasion irremediable damage1 not       
suspected by the person who administers 
it1 though he may triumphantly declare  
how the punishment in the specific case 
has helped4 ,most adults feel free to   
tell how a whipping has injured them in 
one way or another1 but when they take  
up the training of their own children   

they depend on the effect of such       
chastisement4  ,what burning bitterness 
and desire for vengeance1 what canine   
fawning flattery1 does not corporal     
punishment call forth4 ,it makes the    
lazy lazier1 the obstinate more         
obstinate1 the hard1 harder4 ,it        
strengthens those two emotions1 the root
 of almost all evil in the world1 hatred
 and fear4 ,and as long as blows are    
made synonymous with education1 both of 
these emotions will keep their mastery  
over men4  ,one of the most frequent    
occasions for recourse to this          
punishment is obstinacy1 but what is    
called obstinacy is only fear or        
incapacity4 ,the child repeats a false  
answer1 is threatened with blows1 and   
again repeats it just because he is     
afraid not to say the right thing4 ,he  
is struck and then answers rightly4     
,this is a triumph of education2        
refractoriness is overcome4 ,but what   
has happened8 ,increased fear has led to
 a strong effort of thought1 to a       

momentary increase of self-control4 ,the
 next day the child will very likely    
repeat the fault4 ,where there is real  
obstinacy on the part of children1 ,i   
know of cases when corporal punishment  
has filled them with the lust to kill1  
either themselves or the person who     
strikes them4 ,on the other hand ,i know
 of others1 where a mother has brought  
an obstinate child to repentance and    
self-mastery by holding him quietly and 
calmly on her knees4  ,how many untrue  
confessions have been forced by fear of 
blows2 how much daring passion for      
action1 spirit of adventure1 play of    
fancy1 and stimulus to discovery has    
been repressed by this same fear4 ,even 
where blows do not cause lying1 they    
always hinder absolute                  
straightforwardness and the down-right  
personal courage to show oneself as one 
is4 ,as long as the word blow is used at
 all in a home1 no perfect honour will  
be found in children4 ,so long as the   
home and the school use this method of  

education1 brutality will be developed  
in the child himself at the cost of     
humanity4 ,the child uses on animals1 on
 his young brothers and sisters1 on his 
comrades1 the methods applied to        
himself4 ,he puts in practice the same  
argument1 that badness must be cured    
with blows4 ,only children accustomed to
 be treated mildly1 learn to see that   
influence can be gained without using   
force4 ,to see this is one of man's     
privileges1 sacrificed by man through   
descending to the methods of the brute4 
,only by the child seeing his teacher   
always and everywhere abstaining from   
the use of actual force1 will he come   
himself to despise force on all those   
occasions which do not involve the      
defence of a weaker person against      
physical superiority4 ,the foundation of
 the desire for war is to be sought for 
less in the war games than in the       
teachers' rod4  ,to defend corporal     
discipline1 children's own statements   
are brought in evidence1 they are       

reported as saying they knew they       
deserved such discipline in order to be 
made good4 ,there is no lower example of
 hypocrisy in human nature than this4   
,it is true the child may be sincere in 
other cases in saying that he feels that
 through punishment he has atoned for a 
fault which was weighing upon his       
conscience4 ,but this is really the     
foundation of a false system of ethics1 
the kind which still continues to be    
preached as ,christian1 namely2 that a  
fault may be atoned for by sufferings   
which are not directly connected with   
the fault4 ,the basis of the new        
morality is just the opposite as ,i have
 already shown4 ,it teaches that no     
fault can be atoned for1 that no one can
 escape the results of his actions in   
any way4  ,untruthfulness belongs to the
 faults which the teacher thinks he must
 most frequently punish with blows4 ,but
 there is no case in which this method  
is more dangerous4  ,when the           
much-needed guide-book for parents is   

published1 the well-known story of      
,george ,washington and the hatchet must
 appear in it1 accompanied by the remark
 which a clever ten-year-old child added
 to the anecdote3 ,it is no trouble     
telling the truth when one has such a   
kind father4  ,i formerly divided       
untruthfulness into unwilling1          
shameless1 and imaginative lies4 ,a     
short time ago ,i ran across a much     
better division of lying2 first cold    
lies1 that is1 fully conscious          
untruthfulness which must be punished1  
and hot lies2 the expression of an      
excited temperament or of a vigorous    
fancy4 ,i agree with the author of this 
distinction that the last should not be 
punished but corrected1 though not with 
a pedantic rule of thumb measure1 based 
on how much it exceeds or falls short of
 truth4 ,it is to be cured by ridicule1 
a dangerous method of education in      
general1 but useful when one observes   
that this type of untruthfulness        
threatens to develop into real          

untrustworthiness4 ,in dealing with     
these faults we are very strict towards 
children1 so strict that no lawyer1 no  
politician1 no journalist1 no poet1     
could exercise his profession if the    
same standard were applied to them as to
 children4  ,the white lie is1 as a     
,french scientist has shown1 partly     
caused by pure morbidness1 partly       
through some defect in the conception4  
,it is due to an empty space1 a dead    
point in memory1 or in consciousness1   
that produces a defective idea or gives 
one no idea at all of what has happened4
 ,in the affairs of everyday life the   
adults are often mistaken as to their   
intentions or acts4 ,they may have      
forgotten about their actions1 and it   
requires a strong effort of memory to   
call them back into their minds2 or they
 suggest to themselves that they have   
done1 or not done1 something4 ,in all of
 these cases1 if they were forced to    
give a distinct answer1 they would lie4 
,in every case of this kind1 where a    

child is concerned1 the lie is assumed  
to be a conscious one1 and when on being
 submitted to a strict                  
cross-examination1 he hesitates1 becomes
 confused1 and blushes1 it is looked    
upon as a proof that he knows he has    
been telling an untruth1 although as a  
rule there has been no instance of      
untruthfulness1 except the finally      
extorted confession from the child that 
he has lied4 ,yet in all these          
complicated psychological problems1     
corporal punishment is treated as a     
solution4  ,the child who never hears   
lying at home1 who does not see         
exaggerated weight placed on small1     
merely external things1 who is not made 
cowardly by fear1 who hears conscious   
lies always spoken of with contempt1    
will get out of the habit of            
untruthfulness simply by psychological  
means4 ,first he will find that         
untruthfulness causes astonishment1 and 
a repetition of it1 scorn and lack of   
confidence4 ,but these methods should   

not be applied to untruthfulness caused 
by distress or by richness of           
imagination2 or to such cases as        
originate from the obscure mental ideas 
noted above1 ideas whose connection with
 one another the child cannot make clear
 to himself4 ,the cold untruth on the   
other hand1 must be punished2 first by  
going over it with the child1 then      
letting him experience its effect in    
lack of confidence1 which will only be  
restored when the child shows decided   
improvement in this regard4 ,it is of   
the greatest importance to show children
 full and unlimited confidence1 even    
though one quietly maintains an attitude
 of alert watchfulness2 for continuous  
and undeserved mistrust is just as      
demoralising as blind and easy          
confidence4  ,no one who has been beaten
 for lying learns by it to love truth4  
,the accuracy of this principle is      
illustrated by adults who despise       
corporal punishment in their childhood  
yet continue to tell untruths by word   

and deed4 ,fear may keep the child from 
technical untruth1 but fear also        
produces untrustworthiness4 ,those who  
have been beaten in childhood for lying 
have often suffered a serious injury    
immeasurably greater than the direct    
lie4 ,the truest men ,i ever knew lie   
voluntarily and involuntarily2 while    
others who might never be caught in a   
lie are thoroughly false4  ,this        
corruption of personality begins        
frequently at the tenderest age under   
the influence of early training4        
,children are given untrue motives1     
half-true information2 are threatened1  
admonished4 ,the child's will1 thought1 
and feeling are oppressed2 against this 
treatment dishonesty is the readiest    
method of defence4 ,in this way         
educators who make truth their highest  
aim1 make children untruthful4 ,i       
watched a child who was severely        
punished for denying something he had   
unconsciously done1 and noted how under 
the influence of this senseless         

punishment he developed extreme         
dissimulation4  ,truthfulness requires  
above everything unbroken determination2
 and many nervous little liars need     
nourishing food and life in the open    
air1 not blows4 ,a great artist1 one of 
the few who live wholly according to the
 modern principles of life1 said to me  
on one occasion3 ,my son does not know  
what a lie is1 nor what a blow is4 ,his 
step-brother1 on the other hand1 lied   
when he came into our house2 but lying  
did not work in the atmosphere of calm  
and freedom4 ,after a year the habit    
disappeared by itself1 only because it  
always met with deep astonishment4      
,this makes me1 in passing1 note one of 
the other many mistakes of education1   
viz41 the infinite trouble taken in     
trying to do away with a fault which    
disappears by itself4 ,people take      
infinite pains to teach small children  
to speak distinctly who1 if left to     
themselves1 would learn it by           
themselves1 provided they were always   

spoken to distinctly4 ,this same        
principle holds good of numerous other  
things1 in children's attitude and      
behaviour1 that can be left simply to a 
good example and to time4 ,one's        
influence should be used in impressing  
upon the child habits for which a       
foundation must be laid at the very     
beginning of his life4  ,there is       
another still more unfortunate mistake1 
the mistake of correcting and judging by
 an external effect produced by the act1
 by the scandal it occasions in the     
environment4 ,children are struck for   
using oaths and improper words the      
meaning of which they do not understand2
 or if they do understand1 the result of
 strictness is only that they go on     
keeping silence in matters in which     
sincerity towards those who are bringing
 them up is of the highest importance4  
,the very thing the child is allowed to 
do uncorrected at home1 is not seldom   
corrected if it happens away from home4 
,so the child gets a false idea that it 

is not the thing that deserves          
punishment1 but its publicity4 ,when a  
mother is ashamed of the bad behaviour  
of her son she is apt to strike         
him--instead of striking her own breast6
 ,when an adventurous feat fails he is  
beaten1 but he is praised when          
successful4 ,these practices produce    
demoralisation4 ,once in a wood ,i saw  
two parents laughing while the ice held 
on which their son was sliding2 when it 
broke suddenly they threatened to whip  
him4 ,it required strong self-control in
 order not to say to this pair that it  
was not the son who deserved punishment 
but themselves4  ,on occasions like     
these1 parents avenge their own fright  
on their children4 ,i saw a child become
 a coward because an anxious mother     
struck him every time he fell down1     
while the natural result inflicted on   
the child would have been more than     
sufficient to increase his carefulness4 
,when misfortune is caused by           
disobedience1 natural alarm is1 as a    

rule1 enough to prevent a repetition of 
it4 ,if it is not sufficient blows have 
no restraining effect2 they only        
embitter4 ,the boy finds that adults    
have forgotten their own period of      
childhood2 he withdraws himself secretly
 from this abuse of power1 provided     
strict treatment does not succeed in    
totally depressing the level of the     
child's will and obstructing his        
energies4  ,this is certainly a danger1 
but the most serious effect of corporal 
punishment is that it has established an
 unethical morality as its result4      
,until the human being has learnt to see
 that effort1 striving1 development of  
power1 are their own reward1 life       
remains an unbeautiful affair4 ,the     
debasing effects of vanity and ambition1
 the small and great cruelties produced 
by injustice1 are all due to the idea   
that failure or success sets the value  
to deeds and actions4  ,a complete      
revolution in this crude theory of value
 must come about before the earth can   

become the scene of a happy but         
considerate development of power on the 
part of free and fine human beings4     
,every contest decided by examinations  
and prizes is ultimately an immoral     
method of training4 ,it awakens only    
evil passions1 envy and the impression  
of injustice on the one side1 arrogance 
on the other4 ,after ,i had during the  
course of twenty years fought these     
school examinations1 ,i read with       
thorough agreement a short time ago1    
,ruskin's views on the subject4 ,he     
believed that all competition was a     
false basis of stimulus1 and every      
distribution of prizes a false means4   
,he thought that the real sign of talent
 in a boy1 auspicious for his future    
career1 was his desire to work for      
work's sake4 ,he declared that the real 
aim of instruction should be to show him
 his own proper and special gifts1 to   
strengthen them in him1 not to spur him 
on to an empty competition with those   
who were plainly his superiors in       

capacity4  ,moreover it ought not to be 
forgotten that success and failure      
involve of themselves their own         
punishment and their own reward1 the one
 bitter1 the other sweet enough to      
secure in a natural way increased       
strength1 care1 prudence1 and endurance4
 ,it is completely unnecessary for the  
educator to use1 besides these1 some    
special punishments or special rewards1 
and so pervert the conceptions of the   
child that failure seems to him to be a 
wrong1 success on the other hand as the 
right4  ,no matter where one turns one's
 gaze1 it is notorious that the         
externally encouraging or awe-inspiring 
means of education1 are an obstacle to  
what are the chief human                
characteristics1 courage in oneself and 
goodness to others4  ,a people whose    
education is carried on by gentle means 
only 7,i mean the people of ,japan71    
have shown that manliness is not in     
danger where children are not hardened  
by corporal punishment4 ,these gentle   

means are just as effective in calling  
forth selfmastery and consideration4    
,these virtues are so imprinted on      
children1 at the tenderest age1 that one
 learns first in ,japan what attraction 
considerate kindliness bestows upon     
life4 ,in a country where blows are     
never seen1 the first rule of social    
intercourse is not to cause discomfort  
to others4 ,it is told that when a      
foreigner in ,japan took up a stone to  
throw it at a dog1 the dog did not run4 
,no one had ever thrown a stone at him4 
,tenderness towards animals is the      
complement in that country of tenderness
 in human relationship1 a tenderness    
whose result is observed1 among other   
effects1 in a relatively small number of
 crimes against life and security4      
,war1 hunting for pleasure1 corporal    
discipline1 are nothing more than       
different expressions of the tiger      
nature still alive in man4 ,when the rod
 is thrown away1 and when1 as some one  
has said1 children are no longer boxed  

on their ears but are given magnifying  
glasses and photographic cameras to     
increase their capacity for life and for
 loving it1 instead of learning to      
destroy it1 real education in humanity  
will begin4  ,for the benefit of those  
who are not convinced that corporal     
punishment can be dispensed with in a   
manly education1 by so remote and so    
distant an example as ,japan1 ,i should 
like to mention a fact closer to us4    
,our ,germanic forefathers did not have 
this method of education4 ,it was       
introduced with ,christianity4 ,corporal
 discipline was turned into a religious 
duty1 and as late as the seventeenth    
century there were intelligent men who  
flogged their children once a week as a 
part of spiritual guardianship4 ,i once 
asked our great poet1 ,victor ,rydberg1 
and he said that he had found no proof  
that corporal punishment was usual among
 the ,germans in heathen times4 ,i asked
 him whether he did not believe that the
 fact of its absence had encouraged the 

energetic individualism and manliness in
 the ,northern peoples4 ,he thought so1 
and agreed with me4 ,finally1 ,i might  
note from our own time1 that there are  
many families and schools1 our girls'   
schools for example1 and also boys'     
schools in some countries1 where        
corporal punishment is never used4 ,i   
know a family with twelve children whose
 activity and capacity are not damaged  
by bringing them under the rule of duty 
alone4 ,corporal punishment is never    
used in this home2 a determined but mild
 mother has taught the children to obey 
voluntarily1 and has known how to train 
their wills to self-control4  ,by       
voluntary obedience1 ,i do not mean that
 the child is bound to ask endless      
questions for reasons1 and to dispute   
them before he obeys4 ,a good teacher   
never gives a command without there     
being some good reason1 but whether the 
child is convinced or not1 he must      
always obey1 and if he asks why the     
answer is very simple2 every one1 adults

 as well as children1 must obey the     
right and must submit to what cannot be 
avoided4 ,the great necessity in life   
must be imprinted in childhood4 ,this   
can be done without harsh means by      
training the child1 even previous to his
 birth1 by cultivating one's            
self-control1 and after his birth by    
never giving in to a child's caprices4  
,the rule is1 in a few cases1 to work in
 opposition to the action of the child1 
but in other cases work constructively2 
,i mean provide the child with material 
to construct his own personality and    
then let him do this work of            
construction4 ,this is1 in brief1 the   
art of education4 ,the worst of all     
educational methods are threats4 ,the   
only effective admonitions are short and
 infrequent ones4 ,the greatest skill in
 the educator is to be silent for the   
moment and then so reprove the fault1   
indirectly1 that the child is brought to
 correct himself or make himself the    
object of blame4 ,this can be done by   

the instructor telling something that   
causes the child to compare his own     
conduct with the hateful or admirable   
types of behaviour about which he hears 
information4 ,or the educator may give  
an opinion which the child must take to 
himself although it is not applied      
directly to him4  ,on many occasions a  
forceful display of indignation on the  
part of the elder person is an excellent
 punishment1 if the indignation is      
reserved for the right moment4 ,i know  
children to whom nothing was more       
frightful than their father's scorn2    
this was dreaded4 ,children who are     
deluged with directions and religious   
devotions1 who receive an ounce of      
morality in every cup of joy1 are most  
certain to be those who will revolt     
against all this4 ,nearly every thinking
 person feels that the deepest          
educational influences in his life have 
been indirect2 some good advice not     
given to him directly2 a noble deed told
 without any direct reference4 ,but when

 people come themselves to train others 
they forget all their own personal      
experience4  ,the strongest constructive
 factor in the education of a human     
being is the settled1 quiet order of    
home1 its peace1 and its duty4          
,open-heartedness1 industry1            
straightforwardness at home develop     
goodness1 desire to work1 and simplicity
 in the child4 ,examples of artistic    
work and books in the home1 its         
customary life on ordinary days and     
holidays1 its occupations and its       
pleasures1 should give to the emotions  
and imagination of the child1 periods of
 movement and repose1 a sure contour and
 a rich colour4 ,the pure1 warm1 clear  
atmosphere in which father1 mother1 and 
children live together in freedom and   
confidence2 where none are kept isolated
 from the interests of the others2 but  
each possesses full freedom for his own 
personal interest2 where none trenches  
on the rights of others2 where all are  
willing to help one another when        

necessary1--in this atmosphere egoism1  
as well as altruism1 can attain their   
richest development1 and individuality  
find its just freedom4 ,as the evolution
 of man's soul advances to undreamed-of 
possibilities of refinement1 of         
capacity1 of profundity2 as the         
spiritual life of the generation becomes
 more manifold in its combinations and  
in its distinctions2 the more time one  
has for observing the wonderful and deep
 secrets of existence1 behind the       
visible1 tangible1 world of sense1 the  
more will each new generation of        
children show a more refined and a more 
consistent mental life4 ,it is          
impossible to attain this result under  
the torture of the crude methods in our 
present home and school training4 ,we   
need new homes1 new schools1 new        
marriages1 new social relations1 for    
those new souls who are to feel1 love1  
and suffer1 in ways infinitely numerous 
that we now can not even name4 ,thus    
they will come to understand life2 they 

will have aspirations and hopes2 they   
will believe2 they will pray4 ,the      
conceptions of religion1 love1 and art1 
all these must be revolutionised so     
radically1 that one now can only surmise
 what new forms will be created in      
future generations4 ,this transformation
 can be helped by the training of the   
present1 by casting aside the withered  
foliage which now covers the budding    
possibilities of life4  ,the house must 
once more become a home for the souls of
 children1 not for their bodies alone4  
,for such homes to be formed1 that in   
their turn will mould children1 the     
children must be given back to the home4
 ,instead of the study preparation at   
home for the school taking up1 as it now
 does1 the best part of a child's life1 
the school must get the smaller part1   
the home the larger part4 ,the home will
 have the responsibility of so using the
 free time as well on ordinary days as  
on holidays1 that the children will     
really become a part of the home both in

 their work and in their pleasures4 ,the
 children will be taken from the school1
 the street1 the factory1 and restored  
to the home4 ,the mother will be given  
back from work outside1 or from social  
life to the children4 ,thus natural     
training in the spirit of ,rousseau and 
,spencer will be realised2 a training   
for life1 by life at home4  ,such was   
the training of ,old ,scandinavia2 the  
direct share of the child in the work of
 the adult1 in real labours and dangers1
 gave to the life of our ,scandinavian  
forefathers 7with whom the boy began to 
be a man at twelve years of age71 unity1
 character1 and strength4 ,things       
specially made for children1 the anxious
 watching over all their undertakings1  
support given to all their steps1       
courses of work and pleasure specially  
prepared for children1--these are the   
fundamental defects of our present day  
education4 ,an eighteen-yearold girl    
said to me a short time ago1 that she   
and other girls of the same age were so 

tired of the system of vigilance1       
protection1 amusement1 and pampering at 
school and at home1 that they were      
determined to bring up their own        
children in hunger1 corporal discipline1
 and drudgery4  ,one can understand this
 unfortunate reaction against an        
artificial environment1 the environment 
in which children and young people of   
the present grow up2 an existence that  
evokes a passionate desire for the      
realities of life1 for individual action
 at one's own risk and responsibility1  
instead of being1 as is now the case1 at
 home and in the school1 the object of  
another's care4  ,what is required1     
above all1 for the children of the      
present day1 is to be assigned again    
real home occupations1 tasks they must  
do conscientiously1 habits of work      
arranged for week days and holidays     
without oversight1 in every case where  
the child can help himself4 ,instead of 
the modern school child having a mother 
and servants about him to get him ready 

for school and to help him to remember  
things1 he should have time every day   
before school to arrange his room and   
brush his clothes1 and there should be  
no effort to make him remember what is  
connected with the school4 ,the home and
 the school should combine together     
systematically to let the child suffer  
for the results of his own negligence4  
,just the reverse of this system rules  
to-day4 ,mothers learn their children's 
lessons1 invent plays for them1 read    
their story books to them1 arrange their
 rooms after them1 pick up what they    
have let fall1 put in order the things  
they have left in confusion1 and in this
 and in other ways1 by protective       
pampering and attention1 their desire   
for work1 their endurance1 the gifts of 
invention and imagination1 qualities    
proper to the child1 become weak and    
passive4 ,the home now is only a        
preparation for school4 ,in it1 young   
people growing up1 are accustomed to    
receive services1 without performing any

 on their part4 ,they are trained to be 
always receptive instead of giving      
something in return4 ,then people are   
surprised at a youthful generation1     
selfish and unrestrained1 pressing      
forward shamelessly on all occasions    
before their elders1 crudely            
unresponsive in respect of those        
attentions1 which in earlier generations
 were a beautiful custom among the      
young4  ,to restore this custom1 all the
 means usually adopted now to protect   
the child from physical and psychical   
dangers and inconveniences1 will have to
 be removed4 ,throw the thermometer out 
of the window and begin with a sensible 
course of toughening2 teach the child to
 know and to bear natural pain4         
,corporal punishment must be done away  
with not because it is painful but      
because it is profoundly immoral and    
hopelessly unsuitable4 ,repress the     
egoistic demands of the child when he   
interferes with the work or rest of     
others2 never let him either by caresses

 or by nagging usurp the rights of grown
 people2 take care that the servants do 
not work against what the parents are   
trying to insist on in this and in other
 matters4  ,we must begin in doing for  
the child in certain ways a thousand    
times more and in others a hundred      
thousand times less4 ,a beginning must  
be made in the tenderest age to         
establish the child's feeling for       
nature4 ,let him live year in and year  
out in the same country home2 this is   
one of the most significant and profound
 factors in training4 ,it can be held to
 even where it is now neglected4 ,the   
same thing holds good of making a choice
 library1 commencing with the first     
years of life2 so that the child will   
have1 at different periods of his life1 
suitable books for each age2 not as is  
now often the case1 get quite spoilt by 
the constant change of summer           
excursions1 by worthless children's     
books1 and costly toys4 ,they should    
never have any but the simplest books2  

the so-called classical ones4 ,they     
should be amply provided with means of  
preparing their own playthings4 ,the    
worst feature of our system are the     
playthings which imitate the luxury of  
grown people4 ,by such objects the      
covetous impulse of the child for       
acquisition is increased1 his own       
capacity for discovery and imagination  
limited1 or rather1 it would be limited 
if children with the sound instinct of  
preservation1 did not happily smash the 
perfect playthings1 which give them no  
creative opportunity1 and themselves    
make new playthings from fir cones1     
acorns1 thorns1 and fragments of        
pottery1 and all other sorts of rubbish 
which can be transformed into objects of
 great price by the power of the        
imagination4  ,to play with children in 
the right way is also a great art4 ,it  
should never be done if children do not 
themselves know what they are going to  
do2 it should always be a special treat 
for them as well as their elders4 ,but  

the adults must always on such          
occasions1 leave behind every kind of   
educational idea and go completely into 
the child's world of thought and        
imagination4 ,no attempt should be made 
to teach them at these times anything   
else but the old satisfactory games4    
,the experiences derived from these     
games about the nature of the children1 
who are stimulated in one direction or  
another by the game1 must be kept for   
later use4  ,games in this way increase 
confidence between children and adults4 
,they learn to know their elders better4
 ,but to allow children to turn all the 
rooms into places to play in1 and to    
demand constantly that their elders     
shall interest themselves in them1 is   
one of the most dangerous species of    
pampering common to the present day4    
,the children become accustomed to      
selfishness and mental dependence4      
,besides this constant educational      
effort brings with it the dulling of the
 child's personality4 ,if children were 

free in their own world1 the nursery1   
but out of it had to submit to the      
strict limits imposed by the habits1    
wills1 work1 and repose of parents1     
their requirements and their wishes1    
they would develop into a stronger and  
more considerate race than the youth of 
the present day4 ,it is not so much     
talking about being considerate1 but the
 necessity of considering others1 of    
really helping oneself and others1 that 
has an educational value4 ,in earlier   
days1 children were quiet as mice in the
 presence of elder persons4 ,instead of1
 as they do now1 breaking into a guest's
 conversation1 they learned to listen4  
,if the conversation of adults is       
varied1 this can be called one of the   
best educational methods for children4  
,the ordinary life of children1 under   
the old system1 was lived in the nursery
 where they received their most         
important training from an old faithful 
servant and from one another4 ,from     
their parents they received corporal    

punishment1 sometimes a caress4 ,in     
comparison with this system1 the present
 way of parents and children living     
together would be absolute progress1 if 
parents could but abstain from          
explaining1 advising1 improving1        
influencing every thought and every     
expression4 ,but all spiritual1 mental1 
and bodily protective rules make the    
child now indirectly selfish1 because   
everything centres about him and        
therefore he is kept in a constant state
 of irritation4 ,the six-yearold can    
disturb the conversation of the adult1  
but the twelve-year-old is sent to bed  
about eight o'clock1 even when he1 with 
wide open eyes1 longs for a conversation
 that might be to him an inspiring      
stimulus for life4  ,certainly some     
simple habits so far as conduct and     
order1 nourishment and sleep1 air and   
water1 clothing and bodily movement1 are
 concerned1 can be made the foundations 
for the child's conceptions of morality4
 ,he cannot be made to learn soon enough

 that bodily health and beauty must be  
regarded as high ethical                
characteristics1 and that what is       
injurious to health and beauty must be  
regarded as a hateful act4 ,in this     
sphere1 children must be kept entirely  
independent of custom by allowing the   
exception to every rule to have its     
valid place4 ,the present anxious       
solicitude that children should eat when
 the clock strikes1 that they get       
certain food at fixed meals1 that they  
be clothed according to the degree of   
temperature1 that they go to bed when   
the clock strikes1 that they be         
protected from every drop of unboiled   
water and every extra piece of candy1   
this makes them nervous1 irritable      
slaves of habit4 ,a reasonable          
toughening process against the          
inequalities1 discomforts1 and chances  
of life1 constitutes one of the most    
important bases of joy of living and of 
strength of temper4 ,in this case too1  
the behaviour of the person who gives   

the training1 is the best means of      
teaching children to smile at small     
contretemps1 things which would throw a 
cloud over the sun1 if one got into the 
habit of treating them as if they were  
of great importance4 ,if the child sees 
the parent doing readily an unpleasant  
duty1 which he honestly recognises as   
unpleasant2 if he sees a parent endure  
trouble or an unexpected difficulty     
easily1 he will be in honour bound to do
 the like4 ,just as children without    
many words learn to practice good deeds 
when they see good deeds practiced about
 them2 learn to enjoy the beauty of     
nature and art when they see that adults
 enjoy them1 so by living more          
beautifully1 more nobly1 more           
moderately1 we speak best to children4  
,they are just as receptive to          
impressions of this kind as they are    
careless of those made by force4  ,since
 this is my alpha and omega in the art  
of education1 ,i repeat now what ,i said
 at the beginning of this book and half 

way through it4 ,try to leave the child 
in peace2 interfere directly as seldom  
as possible2 keep away all crude and    
impure impressions2 but give all your   
care and energy to see that personality1
 life itself1 reality in its simplicity 
and in its nakedness1 shall all be means
 of training the child4  ,make demands  
on the powers of children and on their  
capacity for self-control1 proportionate
 to the special stage of their          
development1 neither greater nor lesser 
demands than on adults4 ,but respect the
 joys of the child1 his tastes1 work1   
and time1 just as you would those of an 
adult4 ,education will thus become an   
infinitely simple and infinitely harder 
art1 than the education of the present  
day1 with its artificialised existence1 
its double entry morality1 one morality 
for the child1 and one for the adult1   
often strict for the child and lax for  
the adult and vice versa4 ,by treating  
the child every moment as one does an   
adult human being we free education from

 that brutal arbitrariness1 from those  
over-indulgent protective rules1 which  
have transformed him4 ,whether parents  
act as if children existed for their    
benefit alone1 or whether the parents   
give up their whole lives to their      
children1 the result is alike           
deplorable4 ,as a rule both classes know
 equally little of the feelings and     
needs of their children4 ,the one class 
are happy when the children are like    
themselves1 and their highest ambition  
is to produce in their children a       
successful copy of their own thoughts1  
opinions1 and ideals4 ,really it ought  
to pain them very much to see themselves
 so exactly copied4 ,what life expected 
from them and required from them was    
just the opposite--a richer combination1
 a better creation1 a new type1 not a   
reproduction of that which is already   
exhausted4 ,the other class strive to   
model their children not according to   
themselves but according to their ideal 
of goodness4 ,they show their love by   

their willingness to extinguish their   
own personalities for their children's  
sake4 ,this they do by letting the      
children feel that everything which     
concerns them stands in the foreground4 
,this should be so1 but only indirectly4
  ,the concerns of the whole scheme of  
life1 the ordering of the home1 its     
habits1 intercourse1 purposes1 care for 
the needs of children1 and their sound  
development1 must stand in the          
foreground4 ,but at present1 in most    
cases1 children of tender years1 as well
 as those who are older1 are sacrificed 
to the chaotic condition of the home4   
,they learn self-will without possessing
 real freedom1 they live under a        
discipline which is spasmodic in its    
application4  ,when one daughter after  
another leaves home in order to make    
herself independent they are often      
driven to do it by want of freedom1 or  
by the lack of character in family life4
 ,in both directions the girl sees      
herself forced to become something      

different1 to hold different opinions1  
to think different thoughts1 to act     
contrary to the dictates of her own     
being4 ,a mother happy in the friendship
 of her own daughter1 said not long ago 
that she desired to erect an asylum for 
tormented daughters4 ,such an asylum    
would be as necessary as a protection   
against pampering parents as against    
those who are overbearing4 ,both alike1 
torture their children though in        
different ways1 by not understanding the
 child's right to have his own point of 
view1 his own ideal of happiness1 his   
own proper tastes and occupation4 ,they 
do not see that children exist as little
 for their parent's sake as parents do  
for their children's sake4 ,family life 
would have an intelligent character if  
each one lived fully and entirely his   
own life and allowed the others to do   
the same4 ,none should tyrannise over1  
nor should suffer tyranny from1 the     
other4 ,parents who give their home this
 character can justly demand that       

children shall accommodate themselves to
 the habits of the household as long as 
they live in it4 ,children on their part
 can ask that their own life of thought 
and feeling shall be left in peace at   
home1 or that they be treated with the  
same consideration that would be given  
to a stranger4 ,when the parents do not 
meet these conditions they themselves   
are the greater sufferers4 ,it is very  
easy to keep one's son from expressing  
his raw views1 very easy to tear a      
daughter away from her book and to bring
 her to a tea-party by giving her       
unnecessary occupations2 very easy by a 
scornful word to repress some powerful  
emotion4 ,a thousand similar things     
occur every day in good families through
 the whole world4 ,but whenever we hear 
of young people speaking of their       
intellectual homelessness and sadness1  
we begin to understand why father and   
mother remain behind in homes from which
 the daughters have hastened to depart2 
why children take their cares1 joys1 and

 thoughts to strangers2 why1 in a word1 
the old and the young generation are as 
mutually dependent as the roots and     
flowers of plants1 so often separate    
with mutual repulsion4  ,this is as true
 of highly cultivated fathers and       
mothers as of simple bourgeois or       
peasant parents4 ,perhaps1 indeed1 it   
may be truer of the first class1 the    
latter torment their children in a naive
 way1 while the former are infinitely   
wise and methodical in their stupidity4 
,rarely is a mother of the upper class  
one of those artists of home life who   
through the blitheness1 the goodness1   
and joyousness of her character1 makes  
the rhythm of everyday life a dance1 and
 holidays into festivals4 ,such artists 
are often simple women who have passed  
no examinations1 founded no clubs1 and  
written no books4 ,the highly cultivated
 mothers and the socially useful mothers
 on the other hand are not seldom those 
who call forth criticism from their     
sons4 ,it seems almost an invariable    

rule that mothers should make mistakes  
when they wish to act for the welfare of
 their sons4 ,how infinitely valuable1  
say their children1 would ,i have found 
a mother who could have kept quiet1 who 
would have been patient with me1 who    
would have given me rest1 keeping the   
outer world at a distance from me1 with 
kindly soothing hands4 ,oh1 would that  
,i had had a mother on whose breast ,i  
could have laid my head1 to be quiet and
 dream4  ,a distinguished woman writer  
is surprised that all of her            
well-thought-out plans for her children 
fail--those children in whom she saw the
 material for her passion for governing1
 the clay that she desired to mould4    
,the writer just cited says very justly 
that maternal unselfishness alone can   
perform the task of protecting a young  
being with wisdom and kindliness1 by    
allowing him to grow according to his   
own laws4 ,the unselfish mother1 she    
says1 will joyfully give the best of her
 life energy1 powers of soul and spirit 

to a growing being and then open all    
doors to him1 leaving him in the broad  
world to follow his own paths1 and ask  
for nothing1 neither thanks1 nor praise1
 nor remembrance4 ,but to most mothers  
may be applied the bitter exclamation of
 a son in the book just mentioned1 even 
a mother must know how she tortures     
another2 if she has not this capacity by
 nature1 why in the world should ,i     
recognise her as my mother at all4      
,certain mothers spend the whole day in 
keeping their children's nervous system 
in a state of irritation4 ,they make    
work hard and play joyless1 whenever    
they take a part in it4 ,at the present 
time1 too1 the school gets control of   
the child1 the home loses all the means 
by which formerly it moulded the child's
 soul life and ennobled family life4    
,the school1 not father and mother1     
teaches children to play1 the school    
gives them manual training1 the school  
teaches them to sing1 to look at        
pictures1 to read aloud1 to wander about

 out of doors2 schools1 clubs1 sport and
 other pleasures accustom youth in the  
cities more and more to outside life1   
and a daily recreation that kills the   
true feeling for holiday4 ,young people1
 often1 have no other impression of home
 than that it is a place where they meet
 society which bores them4  ,parents    
surrender their children to schools in  
those years in which they should        
influence their minds4 ,when the school 
gives them back they do not know how to 
make a fresh start with the children1   
for they themselves have ceased to be   
young4  ,but getting old is no          
necessity2 it is only a bad habit4 ,it  
is very interesting to observe a face   
that is getting old4 ,what time makes   
out of a face shows better than anything
 else what the man has made out of time4
 ,most men in the early period of middle
 age are neither intellectually fat nor 
lean1 they are hardened or dried up4    
,naturally young people look upon them  
with unsympathetic eyes1 for they feel  

that there is such a thing as eternal   
youth1 which a soul can win as a prize  
for its whole work of inner development4
 ,but they look in vain for this second 
eternal youth in their elders1 filled   
with worldly nothingnesses and things of
 temporary importance4  ,with a sigh    
they exclude the old people from their  
future plans and they go out in the     
world in order to choose their spiritual
 parents4  ,this is tragic but just1 for
 if there is a field on which man must  
sow a hundred-fold in order to harvest  
tenfold it is the souls of children4    
,when ,i began at five years of age to  
make a rag doll1 that by its weight and 
size really gave the illusion of reality
 and bestowed much joy on its young     
mother1 ,i began to think about the     
education of my future children4 ,then  
as now my educational ideal was that the
 children should be happy1 that they    
should not fear4 ,fear is the misfortune
 of childhood1 and the sufferings of the
 child come from the half-realised      

opposition between his unlimited        
possibilities of happiness and the way  
in which these possibilities are        
actually handled4 ,it may be said that  
life1 at every stage1 is cruel in its   
treatment of our possibilities of       
happiness4 ,but the difference between  
the sufferings of the adult from        
existence1 and the sufferings of the    
child caused by adults1 is tremendous4  
,the child is unwilling to resign       
himself to the sufferings imposed upon  
him by adults and the more impatient the
 child is against unnecessary suffering1
 the better2 for so much the more       
certainly will he some day be driven to 
find means to transform for himself and 
for others the hard necessities of life4
  ,a poet1 ,rydberg1 in our country who 
had the deepest intuition into child's  
nature1 and therefore had the deepest   
reverence for it1 wrote as follows3     
,where we behold children we suspect    
there are princes1 but as to the kings1 
where are they8 ,not only life's tragic 

elements diminish and dam up its vital  
energies4 ,equally destructive is a     
parent's want of reverence for the      
sources of life which meet them in a new
 being4 ,fathers and mothers must bow   
their heads in the dust before the      
exalted nature of the child4 ,until they
 see that the word child is only another
 expression for the conception of       
majesty2 until they feel that it is the 
future which in the form of a child     
sleeps in their arms1 and history which 
plays at their feet1 they will not      
understand that they have as little     
power or right to prescribe laws for    
this new being as they possess the power
 or might to lay down paths for the     
stars4  ,the mother should feel the same
 reverence for the unknown worlds in the
 wide-open eyes of her child1 that she  
has for the worlds which like white     
blossoms are sprinkled over the blue orb
 of heaven2 the father should see in his
 child the king's son whom he must serve
 humbly with his own best powers1 and   

then the child will come to his own2 not
 to the right of asking others to become
 the plaything of his caprices but to   
the right of living his full strong     
personal child's life along with a      
father and a mother who themselves live 
a personal life1 a life from whose      
sources and powers the child can take   
the elements he needs for his own       
individual growth4 ,parents should never
 expect their own highest ideals to     
become the ideals of their child4 ,the  
free-thinking sons of pious parents and 
the ,christian children of freethinkers 
have become almost proverbial4  ,but    
parents can live nobly and in entire    
accordance to their own ideals which is 
the same thing as making children       
idealists4 ,this can often lead to a    
quite different system of thought from  
that pursued by the parent4  ,as to     
ideals1 the elders should here as       
elsewhere1 offer with timidity their    
advice and their experience4 ,yes they  
should try to let the young people      

search for it as if they were seeking   
fruit hidden under the shadow of leaves4
 ,if their counsel is rejected1 they    
must show neither surprise nor lack of  
self-control4  ,the query of a          
humourist1 why he should do anything for
 posterity since posterity had done     
nothing for him1 set me to thinking in  
my early youth in the most serious way4 
,i felt that posterity had done much for
 its forefathers4 ,it had given them an 
infinite horizon for the future beyond  
the bounds of their daily effort4 ,we   
must in the child see the new fate of   
the human race2 we must carefully treat 
the fine threads in the child's soul    
because these are the threads that one  
day will form the woof of world events4 
,we must realise that every pebble by   
which one breaks into the glassy depths 
of the child's soul will extend its     
influence through centuries and         
centuries in ever widening circles4     
,through our fathers1 without our will  
and without choice1 we are given a      

destiny which controls the deepest      
foundation of our own being4 ,through   
our posterity1 which we ourselves       
create1 we can in a certain measure1 as 
free beings1 determine the future       
destiny of the human race4  ,by a       
realisation of all this in an entirely  
new way1 by seeing the whole process in 
the light of the religion of            
development1 the twentieth century will 
be the century of the child4 ,this will 
come about in two ways4 ,adults will    
first come to an understanding of the   
child's character and then the          
simplicity of the child's character will
 be kept by adults4 ,so the old social  
order will be able to renew itself4     
,psychological pedagogy has an exalted  
ancestry4 ,i will not go back to those  
artists in education called ,socrates   
and ,jesus1 but ,i commence with the    
modern world4 ,in the hours of its      
sunrise1 in which we1 who look back1    
think we see a futile ,renaissance1 then
 as now the spring flowers came up amid 

the decaying foliage4 ,at this period   
there came a demand for the remodelling 
of education through the great figure of
 modern times1 ,montaigne1 that skeptic 
who had so deep a reverence for         
realities4 ,in his ,essays1 in his      
,letters to the ,countess of ,gurson1   
are found all of the elements for the   
education of the future4 ,about the     
great ,german and ,swiss specialists in 
pedagogy and psychology1 ,comenius1     
,basedow1 ,pestalozzi1 ,salzmann1       
,froebel1 ,herbart1 ,i do not need to   
speak4 ,i will only mention that the    
greatest men of ,germany1 ,lessing1     
,herder1 ,goethe1 ,kant and others1 took
 the side of natural training4 ,in      
regard to ,england it is well known that
 ,john ,locke in his ,thoughts on       
,education1 was a worthy predecessor of 
,herbert ,spencer1 whose book on        
education in its intellectual1 moral1   
and physical relations1 was the most    
noteworthy book on education in the last
 century4  ,it has been noted that      

,spencer in educational theory is       
indebted to ,rousseau2 and that in many 
cases1 he has only said what the great  
,german authorities1 whom he certainly  
did not know1 said before him4 ,but this
 does not diminish ,spencer's merit in  
the least4 ,absolutely new thoughts are 
very rare4 ,truths which were once new  
must be constantly renewed by being     
pronounced again from the depth of the  
ardent personal conviction of a new     
human being4  ,that rational thoughts on
 the subject of pedagogy as on other    
subjects1 are constantly expressed and  
re-expressed1 shows among other things  
that reasonable1 or practically untried 
education has certain principles which  
are as axiomatic as those of            
mathematics4 ,every reasonable thinking 
man must as certainly discover anew     
these pedagogical principles1 as he must
 discover anew the relation between the 
angles of a triangle4 ,spencer's book it
 is true has not laid again the         
foundation of education4 ,it can rather 

be called the crown of the edifice      
founded by ,montaigne1 ,locke1          
,rousseau1 and the great ,german        
specialists in pedagogy4 ,what is an    
absolutely novel factor in our times is 
the study of the psychology of the      
child1 and the system of education that 
has developed from it4  ,in ,england1   
through the scientist ,darwin1 this new 
study of the psychology of the child was
 inaugurated4 ,in ,germany1 ,preyer     
contributed to its extension4 ,he has   
done so partly by a comprehensive study 
of children's language1 partly by       
collecting recollections of childhood on
 the part of the adult4 ,finally he     
experimented directly on the child1     
investigating his physical and psychical
 fatigue and endurance1 acuteness of    
sensation1 power1 speed1 and exactness  
in carrying out physical and mental     
tasks4 ,he has studied his capacity of  
attention in emotions and in ideas at   
different periods of life4 ,he has      
studied the speech of children1         

association of ideas in children1 etc4  
,during the study of the psychology of  
the child1 scholars began to substitute 
for this term the expression genetic    
psychology4 ,for it was found that the  
big-genetic principle was valid for the 
development both of the psychic and the 
physical life4 ,this principle means    
that the history of the species is      
repeated in the history of the          
individual2 a truth substantiated in    
other spheres2 in philology for example4
 ,the psychology of the child is of the 
same significance for general psychology
 as embryology is for anatomy4 ,on the  
other hand1 the description of savage   
peoples1 of peoples in a natural        
condition1 such as we find in ,spencer's
 ,descriptive ,sociology or ,weitz's    
,anthropology is extremely instructive  
for a right conception of the psychology
 of the child4  ,it is in this kind of  
psychological investigation that the    
greatest progress has been made in this 
century4 ,in the great publication1     

,zeitschrift fur psychologie1 etc41     
there began in #ahid a special          
department for the psychology of        
children and the psychology of          
education4 ,in #ahih1 there were as many
 as one hundred and six essays devoted  
to this subject1 and they are constantly
 increasing4  ,in the chief civilised   
countries this investigation has many   
distinguished pioneers1 such as ,prof4  
,wundt1 ,prof4 ,t4 ,h4 ,ribot1 and      
others4 ,in ,germany this subject has   
its most important organ in the journal 
mentioned above4 ,it numbers among its  
collaborators some of the most          
distinguished ,german physiologists and 
psychologists4 ,as related to the same  
subject must be mentioned ,wundt's      
,philosophischen ,studien1 and partly   
the ,vierteljahrschrift fur             
,wissenschaftlichie ,philosophie4 ,in   
,france1 there was founded in #ahid1 the
 ,annee ,psychologique1 edited by ,binet
 and ,beaunis1 and also the             
,bibliotheque de ,pedagogie et de       

,psychologie1 edited by ,binet4 ,in     
,england there are the journals1 ,mind  
and ,brain4  ,special laboratories for  
experimental psychology with            
psychological apparatus and methods of  
research are found in many places4 ,in  
,germany the first to be founded was    
that of ,wundt in the year #ahgh at     
,leipzig4 ,france has a laboratory for  
experimental psychology at ,paris1 in   
the ,sorbonne1 whose director is ,binet2
 ,italy1 one in ,rome4 ,in ,america     
experimental psychology is zealously    
pursued4 ,as early as #ahid1 there were 
in that country twenty-seven            
laboratories for experimental psychology
 and four journals4 ,there should also  
be mentioned the societies for child    
psychology4 ,recently one has been      
founded in ,germany1 others before this 
time have been at work in ,england and  
,america4  ,a whole series of           
investigations carried out in           
,kraepelin's laboratory in ,heidelberg  
are of the greatest value for           

determining what the brain can do in the
 way of work and impressions4  ,an      
,english specialist has maintained that 
the future1 thanks to the modern school 
system1 will be able to get along       
without originally creative men1 because
 the receptive activities of modern man 
will absorb the cooperative powers of   
the brain to the disadvantage of the    
productive powers4 ,and even if this    
were not a universally valid statement  
but only expressed a physiological      
certainty1 people will some day perhaps 
cease filing down man's brain by that   
sandpapering process called a school    
curriculum4  ,a champion of the         
transformation of pedagogy into a       
psycho-physiological science is to be   
found in ,sweden in the person of ,prof4
 ,hjalmar ,oehrwal who has discussed in 
his essays native and foreign           
discoveries in the field of psychology4 
,one of his conclusions is that the     
so-called technical exercises1          
gymnastics1 manual training1 sloyd1 and 

the like1 are not1 as they are          
erroneously called1 a relaxation from   
mental overstrain by change in work1 but
 simply a new form of brain fatigue4    
,all work1 he finds1 done under         
conditions of fatigue is uneconomic     
whether one regards the quantity        
produced or its value as an exercise4   
,rest should be nothing more than       
rest1--freedom to do only what one wants
 to1 or to do nothing at all4 ,as to    
fear1 he proves1 following ,binet's     
investigation in this subject1 how      
corporal discipline1 threats1 and       
ridicule lead to cowardice2 how all of  
these methods are to be rejected because
 they are depressing and tend to a      
diminution of energy4 ,he shows1        
moreover1 how fear can be overcome      
progressively1 by strengthening the     
nervous system and in that way          
strengthening the character4 ,this      
result comes about partly when all      
unnecessary terrorising is avoided1     
partly when children are accustomed to  

bear calmly and quietly the inevitable  
unpleasantnesses of danger4  ,prof4     
,axel ,key's investigations on school   
children have won international         
recognition4 ,in ,sweden they have      
supplied the most significant material  
up to the present time for determining  
the influence of studies on physical    
development and the results of          
intellectual overstrain4  ,it is to be  
hoped that when through empirical       
investigation we begin to get acquainted
 with the real nature of children1 the  
school and the home will be freed from  
absurd notions about the character and  
needs of the child1 those absurd notions
 which now cause painful cases of       
physical and psychical maltreatment1    
still called by conscientious and       
thinking human beings in schools and in 
homes1 education4   ,by ,helen ,key     
,the ,century of the ,child  ,cr4 #hvo4 
,with ,frontispiece4 ,net1 #a4ej        
,,contents3 ,the ,right of the ,child to
 ,choose ,his ,parents1 ,the ,unborn    

,race and ,woman's ,work1 ,education1   
,homelessness1 ,soul ,murder in the     
,schools1 ,the ,school of the ,future1  
,religious ,instruction1 ,child ,labor  
and the ,crimes of ,children4 ,this book
 has gone through more than twenty      
,german ,editions and has been published
 in several ,european countries4 ,a     
powerful book4--,n4 ,y4 ,times4  ,the   
,education of the ,child  ,reprinted    
from the ,authorized ,american ,edition 
of ,the ,century of the ,child1 ,with   
,introductory ,note by ,,edward ,,bok4  
,cr4 #hvo4 ,net #ge cents  ,nothing     
finer on the wise education of the child
 has ever been brought into print4 ,to  
me this chapter is a perfect classic2 it
 points the way straight for every      
parent1 and it should find a place in   
every home in ,america where there is a 
child4--,,edward ,,bok1 ,editor of the  
,ladies' ,home ,journal4  ,love and     
,marriage ,cr4 #hvo  ,ellen ,key is     
gradually taking a hold upon the reading
 public of this country commensurate    

with the enlightenment of her views4 ,in
 ,europe and particularly in her own    
native ,sweden her name holds an honored
 place as a representative of           
progressive thought4  ,new ,york ,g4 ,p4
 ,putnam's ,sons ,london  ,clever1      
original1 and fascinating ,the ,lost    
,art of ,reading ,mount ,tom ,edition   
,new ,edition in ,two ,volumes  ,i4 ,the
 ,child and the ,book  ,a ,manual for   
,parents and for ,teachers in ,schools  
and ,colleges  ,,ii4 ,the ,lost ,art of 
,reading or1 ,the ,man and ,the ,book   
,two ,volumes1 ,crown #hvo4 ,sold       
separately4 ,each net1 #a1ej  ,by       
,gerald ,stanley ,lee    ,i must express
 with your connivance the joy ,i have   
had1 the enthusiasm ,i have felt1 in    
gloating over every page of what ,i     
believe is the most brilliant book of   
any season since ,carlyle's and         
,emerson's pens were laid aside4 ,the   
title does not hint at any more than a  
fraction of the contents4 ,it is a      
highly original critique of philistinism

 and gradgrindism in education1 library 
science1 science in general1 and life in
 general4 ,it is full of humor1 rich in 
style1 and eccentric in form and all    
suffused with the perfervid genius of a 
man who is not merely a thinker but a   
force4 ,every sentence is tinglingly    
alive1 and as if furnished with long    
antennae of suggestiveness4 ,i do not   
know who ,mr4 ,lee is1 but ,i know      
this--that if he goes on as he has been1
 we need no longer whine that we have no
 worthy successors to the old           
,brahminical writers of ,new ,england4  
,i have been reading with wonder and    
laughter and with loud cheers4 ,it is   
the word of all words that needed to be 
spoken just now4 ,it makes me believe   
that after all we have n't a great      
kindergarten about us in authorship1 but
 that there is virtue1 race1 sap in us  
yet4 ,i can conceive that the date of   
the publication of this book may well be
 the date of the moral and intellectual 
renaissance for which we have long been 

scanning the horizon4--,,wm4 ,,sloane   
,,kennedy in ,boston ,transcript4