Haim Ginott Quotes

25 quotes in 398 categories

• I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It's my…
• Treat a child as though he already is the person he's capable of becoming.
• Happiness... is not a destination: it is a manner of traveling. Happiness is not an end in itself. It is a by-product of working, playing,…
• To be himself, one neeeds to be free from the pressure of evaluative praise
• I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that…
• A modern teacher educates children to value their emotions.
• Only if a child feels right can he think right.
• Each of us carries within himself a collection of instant insults.
• Responsibility is fostered by allowing children a voice and wherever indicated a choice in matters that affect them.
• When children feel understood, their loneliness and hurt diminish. When children are understood, their love for their parent is deepened. A parent's sympathy serves as…
• When gentle persuasion [of children] falls on deaf ears, we resort to ridicule and rebuke. Then we return to threats and punishment. This is the…
• The search for a personal identity is the life task of a teenager.
• Many teenagers are tormented by terrors they deem private and personal. They do not know that their anxieties and doubts are universal.
• Teenagers crave independence. The more self-suf-ficient we make them feel, the less hostile they are toward us.
• Parenthood is an endless series of small events, periodic conflicts, and sudden crises which call for a response. The response is not without consequence: it…
• To sense when a teenager needs understanding and when misunderstanding is a difficult and delicate task. The sad truth is that no matter how wise…
• Adolescence can be a time of turmoil and turbulence, of stress and storm. Rebellion against authority and against convention is to be expected and tolerated…
• Wise parents know that fighting a teenager, like fighting a riptide, is inviting doom.
• Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task.
• If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.

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