The child not only receives sense impressions from its outer environment, but it also absorbs the behaviour of other people through its feeling-life; their attitude and their character, their good will or bad intentions. Therefore as an educator one must dedicate oneself to strive towards a life of purity in thought and feelings, so that the child can become pure in thought and feelings as well. One must also be aware that one’s own conduct has an influence not only on the soul but also on the body. What the child lets flood into itself as it were spontaneously and lets stream into its will, vibrates further in its physical organism. A hot-tempered educator causes the child’s body to become fragile in such a way that he will in later life become prone to disease-causing influences. How one educates in this respect, will later emerge as a state of health in the life of the adult.
Source (German): Rudolf Steiner – GA 297a – Erziehung zum Leben – Prague, 4 April 1924 (p. 167)
Translated by Nesta Carsten-Krüger
Previously posted on 3 oktober 2018
The great Rudolf Steiner Quotes Site 