[20]
I am not however so blind to differences of age
as to think that the very young should be forced on
prematurely or given real work to do. Above all
things we must take care that the child, who is not
yet old enough to love his studies, does not come to
hate them and dread the bitterness which he has
once tasted, even when the years of infancy are
left behind. His studies must be made an amusement: he must be questioned and praised and
taught to rejoice when he has done well; sometimes
too, when he refuses instruction, it should be given
to some other to excite his envy, at times also he
[p. 31]
must be engaged in competition and should be
allowed to believe himself successful more often than
not, while he should be encouraged to do his best by
such rewards as may appeal to his tender years.
Quintilian. With an English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1920.
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