A. S. Neill

Alexander Sutherland Neill (17 October 1883 – 23 September 1973), known as A. S. Neill, was a Scottish educator and author known for his school, Summerhill School, and its philosophies of community self-governance as well as freedom from adult coercion. He wrote 20 books in his lifetime, and his best seller was the 1960 Summerhill, a compilation of four previous books about his school. The book was a common ancestor to activists in the 60s free school movement.

Quotes

 * A good teacher does not draw out; he gives out, and what he gives out is love. And by love I mean approval, or if you like, friendliness, good nature. The good teacher not only understands the child: he approves of the child.
 * The Problem Teacher (1939), p. 11


 * If the emotions are free, the intellect will look after itself.
 * The Free Child (1953), p. 29

Summerhill (1960)



 * A child is innately wise and realistic. If left to himself without adult suggestion of any kind, he will develop as far as he is capable of developing.
 * p. 4


 * Hate breeds hate, and love breeds love.
 * p. 8


 * My own criterion of success is the ability to work joyfully and to live positively.
 * p. 29


 * You cannot make children learn music or anything else without to some degree converting them into will-less adults. You fashion them into accepters of the status quo – a good thing for a society that needs obedient sitters at dreary desks, standers in shops, mechanical catchers of the 8:30 suburban train – a society, in short, that is carried on the shabby shoulders of the scared little man – the scared-to-death conformist.
 * p. 12


 * No one has the right to make a boy learn Latin, because learning is a matter for individual choice; but if in a Latin class, a boy fools all the time, the class should throw him out, because he interferes with the freedom of others.
 * p. 356