Margaret McMillan

“ Well, this book is nothing more or less than an attempt to show that though these two men—artizan and doctor or physiologist—have long walked apart, yet one is always following the other; that on these two depended human progress, and that there can be no great advance in education till their relation to one another is understood in schools and the function of each represented more or less by those who have to prepare the youth of any generation for their lifework. ”

“ His real work does not consist in the mere dealing with questions of sanitation and the prevention of infection any more than does the real work of the musician consist in the tuning of instruments. His real work is concerned with the healthy organism. His goal is education—not the mere checking of disease or infection.
The teacher's power and influence are not threatened by this new advent. They are safeguarded. The new light brought in by the school doctor must deliver the teacher from much ignorant tyranny and misrepresentation. ”

“ There is no vista on which the light strikes more strangely for the newly-opened eyes than on that covered by the word Education. A little while ago there was nothing that could be called education for the masses in England. And even in recent days education has meant for the labouring man a wrangle between the sects: a quarrel for religious supremacy—and the three R's! But the morning light is even now tearing aside the shadows of ecclesiastical authority, and in the ear of Demos a fresh cry rings, fresh and new as from the lips of Morning: "What is Man? ”

“ Coming down the centuries, we find the life-sciences, even in their crudest, rudest forms, still giving their impetus to the pioneer. From Paracelsus, with his perplexities, to clearer thinkers, such as Harvey, Galileo, Priestley, Galvani, Lavoisier. Even in our generation the same influences determine the bent of genius. ”

“ The generation that determines to get real education will banish it for ever. But it cannot be banished without the introduction of manual work into schools. Nor can it be banished without the help of the physiologist.
·⁠·⁠·⁠·⁠·⁠·⁠·⁠·
Every difficulty that a teacher encounters begins and ends with the organism of the child. There is the power. There too is the defect or weakness. If any subject does not invoke power and improve health it is not worth learning. ”

“ There are museums where the tools are ranged in order like the letters of an alphabet. But they are not an alphabet. Each of them is a word—a sentence rather—and they tell a story. They throw a strange light on the doings of their makers. ”

“ Certainly our great doctors have something to learn, as well as a world of things to teach in our schools. Play, as the teacher knew to her cost, is a living through of something that has been already experienced. ”

“ To take the common R's and writing: to learn these in the right way is as healthy an exercise as skipping or running. It is to exercise the lungs, the lips, the vocal organs, the eyes, the hands, and arms aright. ”

“ Luther declared that "boys got this particular kind of stupidity from sitting much in schools." Perhaps men get it, too, from sitting too much apart in very high places—from taking no part, however small, in the rougher kind of manual labour. ”