It has not yet crystallized within me, nor has it been confirmed by reasoning that a child's primary and irrefutable right is the right to voice his thoughts, to active participation in our considerations and verdicts concerning him. When we will have gained his respect and trust, once he confides in us of his own free will and tells us what he has the right to do – there will be less puzzling moments, less mistakes. ~Janusz Korczak

Selected Works of Janusz Korczak, 1967

Selection from Polish by Martin Wolins, Professor of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, California, U.S.A. Translated by Jerzy Bachrach