35+ Charlotte Mason Quotes From The Influential Educator

Charlotte Mason was born on 1 January 1842 in Bangor, United Kingdom, and died on 16 January 1923 in Ambleside, United Kingdom.

She spent a significant part of her life trying to improve the quality of children's education. Her experiences in life helped her work towards developing a more liberal education for all.

Charlotte was orphaned at the age of sixteen. She earned a first-class certificate for training teachers at the Home and Colonial Society.

Her motive to move towards a liberal education was because in the 1800s English children were educated according to social class wherein the poorer were taught trade while the arts and literature were reserved for the richer class.

She later moved to teach at Bishop Otter Teaching Training College in England when she figured that parents needed some basic principles on how to overview children's upbringing.

This initiative led to the development of the Parent's Educational Union.

Eventually, more and more schools adopted her philosophies and methods, and Ambleside, a house of Education, which she formed in 1891, became a teacher training college to supply all the 'Parent's Union Schools'. Even today her philosophies inspire mothers and children who choose to homeschool.

In this article, we will take a look at the best Charlotte Mason quotes about education, children, and Charlotte Mason quotes about nature. If you love this quote article, read our [Horace Mann] and [homeschool] quote articles too.

Charlotte Mason Quotes On Education

Here are some quotes from the reformer based on her views on education.

1."Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life."

-Charlotte Mason

2."There is no education but self-education."

-Charlotte Mason

3."The formation of habits is education and the education is the formation of habits."

-Charlotte Mason

4."The most common and the monstrous defect in the education of the day is that children fail to acquire the habit of reading."

-Charlotte Mason

5."The knowledge of God is the principal knowledge."

-Charlotte Mason

6."Education, like faith, is the evidence of things not seen."

-Charlotte Mason

7."We hold that all education is divine, that every good gift of knowledge and insight comes from above."

-Charlotte Mason

8."Education is science in relations."

-Charlotte Mason

9."The peculiar value of geography lies in its fitness to nourish the mind with ideas and furnish the imagination with pictures."

-Charlotte Mason

10."Of the joyous motives of our school life, the love of knowledge is the only abiding one; the only one which determines the scale, so to speak, upon which the person will hereafter live."

-Charlotte Mason  

11.“The question is not, -- how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education -- but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”

― Charlotte Mason, 'School Education: Developing A Curriculum'

12."Having found the book which has a message for us, let us not be guilty of the folly of saying we have read it. We might as well say we have breakfasted as if breakfasting on one day should last us every day..."

-Charlotte Mason

13."And all the time we have books, books teeming with ideas fresh from the minds of thinkers upon every subject to which we can wish to introduce children."

-Charlotte Mason

14."The teacher who allows his scholars the freedom of the city of books is at liberty to be their guide, philosopher, and friend; and is no longer the mere instrument of forcible intellectual teaching."

-Charlotte M. Mason, 'Mind to Mind: An Essay Towards A Philosophy Of Education'

15."Let the children alone...the education of habit is successful in so far as it enables the mother to let her children alone"

-Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason Quotes On Children

Charlotte Mason dedicated her life to reforming education and introducing liberal education. Take a look at these Charlotte Mason quotes on children.

16."The souls of children are waiting for the call of knowledge to awaken them to delightful living."

-Charlotte Mason

17."A child gets moral notions from the fairy tales he delights in, as do his elders from tale and verse."

-Charlotte Mason

18."Children are born person."

-Charlotte Mason

19."What a child digs for becomes his own possession."

-Charlotte Mason

20."An observant child should be put in the way of things worth observing."

Charlotte Mason

21."Imagination does not stir at the suggestion of the feeble, much-diluted stuff that is too often put into children's hands."

-Charlotte Mason

22."We have never been so rich in books. But there has never been a generation when there is so much twaddle in print for children."

-Charlotte Mason

23."Composition is as natural as jumping and running to children who have been allowed due use of books."

-Charlotte Mason

24."The indwelling of Christ is a thought particularly fit for children because their large faith does not stumble at the mystery, their imagination leaps readily to the marvel, that the king himself should inhabit a little child's heart."

-Charlotte Mason

25."Give your child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information."

-Charlotte Mason

26."We talk of lost ideals, but perhaps they are not lost, only changed; when our ideal for ourselves and for our children becomes limited to prosperity and comfort, we get these, very likely, for ourselves and for them, but we get no more."

-Charlotte Mason

27."Children should transcribe favorite passages. A certain sense of possession and delight may be added to this exercise if children are allowed to choose for transcription their favorite verse in one poem and another."

-Charlotte Mason

28."Who can take the measure of a child? The Genie of the Arabian tale is nothing to him. He, too, may be let out of his bottle and fill the world. But woe to us if we keep him corked up."

-Charlotte Mason, 'Charlotte Mason's Original Home Schooling Series'

Charlotte Mason Quotes On Nature

Here are some great Charlotte Mason nature quotes which are definitely worth reading.

29."We are meant to be naturalists, each one in his own degree, and is inexcusable to live in a world so full of marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things."

-Charlotte Mason

30."Do not let the endless succession of small things crowd great ideals out of sight and out of mind."

-Charlotte Mason

31."Never be within doors when you can rightly be without."

-Charlotte Mason

32."Authority is just and faithful in all matters of promise-keeping; It is also considerate, and that is why a good mother is the best home-ruler."

-Charlotte Mason  

33."The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days."

-Charlotte Mason

34."Every person exceeds our power of measurement."

-Charlotte Mason

35."Our power to conduct our relations with other people depends upon our power of conducting our relations with ourselves..."

-Charlotte Mason, 'Charlotte Mason's Original Home Schooling Series'

36."Like Ariel released from tree prison, a beautiful human being leaps out of many a human prison at the touch of sympathy."

-Charlotte M. Mason

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotesfor everyone to enjoy!  If you liked our suggestions for great Charlotte Mason quotes then why not take a look at study quotes,  or Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quotes.