As a child, you respond physically, tactically. You're delighted by sound, you're delighted by recognizing something. It's like hide and seek. Is it there? Is it not there? Is it this note? Is it not this note? It's one fantastic game.
Yo-Yo MaRead
Children, in a way, are constant learners. Certainly sponge-like. Absorbing everything without careful analysis, even though, at the same time, they are certainly capable of incredible insights.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Children learn profoundly and instinctively, often without questioning yet offering remarkable insights.
This quote emphasizes the unique way children approach learning. They have an innate ability to absorb information from their surroundings much like a sponge, without necessitating deep analysis. However, this doesn't undermine their capacity for keen observations and insights, suggesting that their sharp, intuitive understanding is also part of their learning process.
Themes
ChildrenLearningInsightsEducationObservations
In practice
Example use cases
A teacher might use this quote to inspire a discussion about teaching methods that embrace children's natural curiosity.
More from Yo-Yo Ma
All quotes βThere's a part of me that's always charging ahead. I'm the curious kid, always going to the edge.
Yo-Yo MaRead
I think that peace is, in many ways, a precondition of joy.
Yo-Yo MaRead
I think anybody who goes away finds you appreciate home more when you return.
Yo-Yo MaRead
When we enlarge our view of the world, we deepen our understanding of our own lives.
Yo-Yo MaRead
I learn something not because I have to, but because I really want to. That's the same view I have for performing. I'm performing because I really want to, not because I have to bring bread back home.
Yo-Yo MaRead
Similar quotes
People rarely speak of children; you hear of 'cohort groups' and 'standard variations,' but you don't hear much of boys who miss their cats or 6-year-olds who have to struggle with potato balls.
Jonathan KozolRead
I always individuate myself from other writers who say they would die if they couldn't write. For me, I'd die if I couldn't read.
Junot DiazRead
I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
Teaching to unsuspecting youngsters the effective use of formal methods is one of the joys of life because it is so extremely rewarding.
Edsger DijkstraRead
Many black youths are defying stereotypes, achieving good academic results, finding employment and contributing to their communities. But helping those who fall behind is not an exercise in political correctness, it is a precisely what a compassionate - and sensible - state should concern itself with.
David LammyRead
It's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written.
Judy BlumeRead