When you meet a head of state, and you say, 'What is your most precious natural resource?' they will not say children at first, and then when you say, 'children,' they will pretty quickly agree with you.
Interpretation
Children are often overlooked as valuable resources, yet they are essential for the future.
This quote emphasizes the importance of children as the most precious natural resource we have. Although leaders may initially not recognize this, it highlights that the future of society depends on nurturing and investing in the younger generations, as they hold the potential to shape tomorrow's world.
In practice
In a speech about education reform, one could say, 'As Nicholas Negroponte observed, when we consider our most precious natural resource, we must recognize the invaluable potential in our children.'
Where do new ideas come from? The answer is simple: differences. While there are many theories of creativity, the only tenet they all share is that creativity comes from unlikely juxtapositions. The best way to maximize differences is to mix ages, cultures, and disciplines.
Access by kids to the Internet should be like kids breathing clean air.
It's hard to propose a $100 laptop for a world community of kids and then not say in the same breath that you're going to depend on the community to make software for it.
I'm not good at selling laptops. I'm good at selling ideas.
Computing is not about computers any more. It is about living. Whatever big problem you can imagine, from world peace to the environment to hunger to poverty, the solution always includes education, ... We need to depend more on peer-to-peer and self-driven learning. The laptop is one important means of doing that.
I've spent my whole life worrying about the human-computer interface, so I don't want to suggest that what we have today is even close to acceptable.
I went through withdrawal when I got out of graduate school. It's what you learn, what you think. That's all that counts.
Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things that people do
I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built up on the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think. Whereas, if the child is left to himself, he will think more and better, if less showily.
In this modern world where activity is stressed almost to the point of mania, quietness as a childhood need is too often overlooked. Yet a child's need for quietness is the same today as it has always been--it may even be greater--for quietness is an essential part of all awareness. In quiet times and sleepy times a child can dwell in thoughts of his own, and in songs and stories of his own.
No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.
Early childhood education is the key to the betterment of society.
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