“If the emotions are free the intellect will look after itself”

“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 thinks they knows best”

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

“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.”

“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...”

“Summerhill children are allowed to go through their gangster period, and consequentially more furniture is destroyed.”

“He was, however, unable to give much prolonged or continuous thought to anything that evening , or to concentrate on any one idea; and anyway, even if he had been able to, he would not have found h...”

“Nature can counsel nothing but crime.”

“A criminal remains a criminal whether he uses a convict's suit or a monarch's crown.”

“Hatred would have been easier. With hatred, I would have known what to do. Hatred is clear, metallic, one-handed, unwavering; unlike love.”

“Those who attempt to conquer hatred by hatred are like warriors who take weapons to overcome others who bear arms. This does not end hatred, but gives it room to grow. But, ancient wisdom has advoc...”

“Before you hate something you should try to understand it.”

“I do not know what makes a writer, but it probably isn't happiness.”

“All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.”

“Men are the only animals that devote themselves day in and day out to making one another unhappy.”