Inner forces affect his choices, and if someone usurps the function of this guide, the child is prevented from developing either his will or his concentration.

Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

If we want him to acquire these traits [will and concentration], the first thing we must do is to make him independent of the adult.

Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

If the child is not yet master of his actions, if he cannot obey even his own will, so much the less can he obey the will of someone else.

Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

His powers are now consolidated and can be directed not only by his own will, but by the will of another. The child can absorb another person's wishes and express them in his own behaviour.

Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind