Maria Montessori Quotes

I hope that at this moment you are thinking of yourself as a human being rather than as an American, Asian, European, African, or member of any particular country. These loyalties are secondary.

I am an educator who thinks globally.

I am not born from a single place. My country is the whole world.

The best American is one who considers themselves as a citizen of the world.

We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind.

I never considered myself a patriot. I like to think I recognize only humanity as my nation.

The proprietor of stock is necessarily a citizen of the world, and is not necessarily attached to any particular country.

Think globally, act locally, think tribally, act universally.

America is not the world.

I think it is natural that every country has to take care of its interests, but there are some interests that are common to all countries. There are some human interests, or we need also international cooperation. We've sometimes confused it with dictation.

I'm not going to be an interpreter at the U.N. I'm not going to live in Africa on a farm or whatever, but I am going to see the world through those eyes when I make those films.

On the contrary, I'm a universal patriot, if you could understand me rightly: my country is the world.

One of my fondest memories from childhood is of looking at a globe with my father. "What's the biggest country?" he'd ask me and my sister. We'd spin the globe around and guess. . . . The globe brought me a sense of wonder and adventure. I wanted to go to those other places and see how people did things differently. And, many years later, when I did visit other countries, I took my father's interest and fascination with me. When we plant the seeds of fascination and respect for other people, we are teaching tolerance and peace.

A man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.

I think Americans suffer for their lack of travel, awareness of the world. It has horribly warped our sense of place in the scheme of things.

We are the world, we are the children.

If we looked down at the world from space, we would not see any demarcations of national boundaries. We would simply see one small planet, just one.

It is always a joy to meet an American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believes that the folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.

Great principles, great ideals know no nationality.

Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live.

How much longer are we going to think it necessary to be American before (or in contradistinction to) being cultivated, being enlightened, being humane, and having the same intellectual discipline as other civilized countries?

I've lived many places all over the world, so I've always seen myself as a citizen of the world.

Washington was a typical American. Napoleon was a typical Frenchman, but Lincoln was a humanitarian as broad as the world. He was bigger than his country - bigger than all the Presidents together.

I've been fortunate enough to travel to 58 different countries and I thank God everyday that I was born in this country. The most exceptional country that the world has ever known. And I want to make sure that we preserve that exceptionalism for the next generation.

For me, it's to be able to see that every life matters. Every life matters - no matter where, no matter how big, no matter how small. I've been able to see that in so many of the trips that we've taken around the world. That's been something that's been so eye-opening to me. I share that concept with everyone I come in contact with, so that we can unite around people. We can unite around one nation under God here, and we can unite that everybody matters. I think in this day and age right now, it's important. People need to be able to see something bigger than themselves.