A.S. Neill: “All crimes, all hatreds, all wars can be reduced to unhappiness.”

“The function of a child is to live his/her own life, not the life that his/her anxious parents think he/she should live, nor a life according to the purpose of the educators who think they know best.”
― A.S. Neill

“If the emotions are free the intellect will look after itself.”
― A.S. Neill

“All crimes, all hatreds, all wars can be reduced to unhappiness.”
― A.S. Neill

“Goodness that depends on fear of hell or fear of the policeman or fear of punishment is not goodness at all - it is simply cowardice. Goodness than depends on hope of reward or hope of praise or hope of heaven depends on bribery.”
― A.S. Neill

“I would rather see a school produce a happy street cleaner than a neurotic scholar.”
― A.S. Neill

“Small boys often produce their own plays; but usually the parts are not written out. They hardly need to be, for the main line of each character is always "Stick 'em up!" In these plays the curtain is always rung down on a set of corpses, for small boys are by nature through and uncompromising.”
― A.S. Neill, Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing

“Compelled respect always implies fear.”
― A.S. Neill, Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing

“Summerhill children are allowed to go through their gangster period, and consequentially more furniture is destroyed.”
― A.S. Neill, Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing

“No teacher has the right to cure a child of making noises on a drum. The only curing that should be practiced is the curing of unhappiness.”
― A.S. Neill