Status Updates From Émile ou de l'éducation

I show the goal that must be set; I do not say it can be reached. But I do say that he who comes nearest to it will have succeeded best.

Give not only alms; give charity.

And if they do not reform, they will at least abstain from scandal; this is all we need for our project.
Stop blaming others for your own faults; the evil children see corrupts them less than that which you teach them.

Do better: be reasonable, and do not reason with your pupil, especially to get his approbation for what displeased him. Bringing reason to bear on unpleasant things only makes reason tedious for him and discredits it early in a mind not yet in a condition to understand it.

In the earliest age sacrifice time that you will regain with interest at a more advanced age.

Senseless teachers think they work wonders when they make children wicked in order to teach them what is goodness is. And then they solemnly tell us, “Such is man.” Yes, such is the man you have made.
I already see the startled reader judging this child by our children.He is Mistaken.The perpetual constraint in which you keep your pupils exacerbates their vivacity. The more they are held in check under your eyes,

Had to do some skimming, especially at the end, which turned out to be so sexist it was almost unreadable! Certainly a book from a different time, but I appreciated hearing a historical perspective on education and on what’s really important in life.