"I started my work like a peasant who had put aside good seeds of wheat, and to whom a fertile piece of land had been offered so he could sow it according to his wish. But it was not to be... As soon as I moved the sods of that earth, I found gold, rather than wheat. The sods were hiding a precious treasure."

Maria Montessori

A Letter Commemorating the Opening of the first Casa Dei Bambini 6 January, 1907