"Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily"
- Thomas Szasz
About this Quote
This quote by Thomas Szasz talks to the idea that discovering needs a specific level of vulnerability. In order to find out, one need to be willing to accept that they might not understand something and be open to being wrong. This is specifically true for kids, who are not yet knowledgeable about their own self-importance and are for that reason more ready to take threats and make mistakes. This quote recommends that in order to discover, one should be willing to put aside their ego and accept that they might not know everything. This is an essential lesson for everyone, despite age, as it motivates us to be open up to originalities and to be happy to gain from our errors.
"Raising children is an incredibly hard and risky business in which no cumulative wisdom is gained: each generation repeats the mistakes the previous one made"
"At the heart of the Reggio Emilia approach is the belief that children are full of potential, competent, and capable of constructing their own learning"
"Neurotics complain of their illness, but they make the most of it, and when it comes to talking it away from them they will defend it like a lioness her young"