تُشكَّل النباتات بالزراعة، ويُشكَّل البشر بالتربية. نولد ضعفاء فنحتاج القوة، ونولد عاجزين تمامًا فنحتاج العون، ونولد بلا فهم فنحتاج الحكم والتمييز. وكل ما لا نملكه عند ولادتنا، ونحتاجه حين نكبر، إنما يُمنح لنا بالتربية.

“Plants are shaped by cultivation and men by education. .. We are born weak, we need strength; we are born totally unprovided, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgment. Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given us by education.”Jean-Jacques Rousseau — Emile: Or, On Education (1979)