Amos Bronson Alcott

The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-trust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him.

Amos Bronson Alcott (November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and avoided traditional punishment. He hoped to perfect the human spirit and, to that end, advocated a vegan diet before the term was coined. He was also an abolitionist and an advocate for women's rights.

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• The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-trust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciples. A noble artist, he has visions of excellence and revelations of beauty which he has neither impersonated in character nor embodied in words. His life and teachings are but studies for yet nobler ideals.
  • Quoted by William T. Harris in A. Bronson Alcott: His Life and Philosophy, Volume 2 (1893)

External links

• Amos Bronson Alcott Network
• Alcott biography on American Transcendentalism Web
• Alcott at Perspectives in American Literature
• Bronson Alcott: A glimpse at our vegetarian heritage, by Karen Iacobbo
• Bronson Alcott at Alcott house, England, and Fruitlands, New England (1842-1844) (1908) by Franklin Benjamin Sanborn
• Works by or about Amos Bronson Alcott in libraries (WorldCat catalog)