Reggio Emilia Quotes: Loris Malaguzzi’s Words, Sourced

Nearly every Reggio Emilia quote in circulation comes from Loris Malaguzzi, the teacher who founded the approach in the villages around Reggio Emilia in northern Italy after the Second World War. Most of what English-speaking educators quote is translated, which matters: the same passage appears in several different English wordings depending on the translator, and none of them is the original. The lines below are grouped by theme, with the source given where it holds, and the translation issue flagged where it applies.

From “No Way. The Hundred Is There”

This poem is the single most quoted Reggio text, usually referred to as “The Hundred Languages of Children.” The widely used English version was translated by Lella Gandini and appears at the front of the 1993 book The Hundred Languages of Children.

“The child is made of one hundred. The child has a hundred languages, a hundred hands, a hundred thoughts, a hundred ways of thinking, of playing, of speaking.” Malaguzzi, translated by Gandini.

“The child has a hundred languages (and a hundred hundred hundred more) but they steal ninety-nine.” Malaguzzi, same source. This is the line most often reproduced on its own, and it lands harder in the full poem, where the ninety-nine are stolen by school and culture in particular.

“The school and the culture separate the head from the body.” From the same passage, describing what the poem is objecting to.

“They tell the child: to think without hands, to do without head, to listen and not to speak, to understand without joy.” The list continues for several more lines. Quoting four of them is fine; presenting them as the whole poem is not.

On the image of the child

The approach rests on what Reggio educators call the image of the child, and these are the lines that carry it.

“Children are autonomous subjects, competent and capable, with the right to be listened to.” A paraphrase of a position Malaguzzi stated many times rather than a single sourced sentence. It is accurate to the approach and should not be presented as a direct quotation.

“Nothing without joy.” Attributed to Malaguzzi and used constantly by Reggio-inspired schools. It is short, it is repeated in the literature, and its exact original is hard to pin down, which is worth saying if you use it in anything formal.

“Stand aside for a while and leave room for learning, observe carefully what children do, and then, if you have understood well, perhaps teaching will be different from before.” Malaguzzi, quoted in Reggio literature and widely reproduced. Wordings vary slightly across translations.

On the environment and the teacher

“The environment is the third teacher.” A summary of a Malaguzzi principle, and one of the most-used phrases in early childhood education. He wrote at more length about the environment as an educator; the compressed four-word version is a later formulation used by Reggio-inspired schools rather than his sentence.

“What children learn does not follow as an automatic result from what is taught. Rather, it is in large part due to the children’s own doing, as a consequence of their activities and our resources.” Malaguzzi, from his writing on the approach, translated. This one is longer than most people want for a poster and it is the clearest statement of what the approach actually claims.

“Our task, regarding creativity, is to help children climb their own mountains, as high as possible. No one can do more.” Malaguzzi, widely quoted in Reggio literature.

On documentation and listening

“Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a journey down the water.” Malaguzzi, from his writing on the relationship between the two. It is a long line and it holds up better than most of the short ones.

Documentation, the practice of recording children’s work and revisiting it with them, is central to the approach but generates fewer quotable lines, because it is a method rather than a philosophy. Most “quotes” about Reggio documentation are written by later authors and interpreters rather than by Malaguzzi.

The translation problem

Malaguzzi wrote and spoke in Italian, and much of what English-speaking educators quote passed through translation by Lella Gandini, Carolyn Edwards, or George Forman for the various editions of The Hundred Languages of Children. Different editions give different wordings for the same passage.

The practical consequence: if you are quoting him in a paper, cite the translation you used, not just Malaguzzi. “Malaguzzi, as translated by Gandini in Edwards, Gandini, and Forman (1993)” is the honest form. If you are putting a line on a wall, none of this matters.

The other consequence is that short, punchy Malaguzzi quotes should be treated with suspicion. His actual sentences are long and qualified. The four-word versions circulating on social media are usually somebody’s summary that acquired his name along the way.

Using these in a classroom or a paper

For a parent handbook or a school wall, the hundred languages passage does the most work, because it explains the whole approach without jargon. For a philosophy statement, the passage about children’s own doing is more precise and less decorative.

For citation mechanics, see how to cite a quote and, for the block-quote formatting the longer passages will need, how to block quote. Related lists with the same sourcing standard: preschool quotes and teaching quotes.

FAQ

Who is quoted most in Reggio Emilia education?

Loris Malaguzzi, who founded the approach and wrote or spoke nearly all of its best-known lines. Later interpreters are quoted too, but usually with their own names attached.

What is the hundred languages of children?

Malaguzzi’s poem, properly titled “No Way. The Hundred Is There,” arguing that children have many ways of expressing and understanding and that schooling strips most of them away. The standard English version was translated by Lella Gandini.

Did Malaguzzi say “the environment is the third teacher”?

Not in those four words, as far as the documented record shows. He wrote about the environment as an educator alongside adults and other children, and the compact phrase is a later formulation used by Reggio-inspired schools.

How do I cite a Malaguzzi quote?

Cite the book and translation you took it from, most often Edwards, Gandini, and Forman’s The Hundred Languages of Children, with the page number. Citing Malaguzzi alone hides the translation, which is part of the source.

Are there Reggio quotes not from Malaguzzi?

Yes, from Carlina Rinaldi, Vea Vecchi, and other Reggio educators who wrote about the approach after him. They are quoted less often and are easier to source, since most of their work was written rather than spoken.