Quotes from Tetsuko Kuroyanagi

Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth…These are the things to fear…

Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.

Drying her eyes, Mother said to Totto-chan very slowly, "You're Japanese and Masao-chan comes from a country called Korea. But he's a child, just like you. So, Totto-chan, dear, don't ever think of people as different. Don't think, 'That person's a Japanese, or this person's a Korean.' Be nice to Masao-chan. It's so sad that some people think other people aren't nice just because they're Koreans.

Down through the ages and in the whole world, Watt and Newton cannot have been the only ones to notice the steam from a boiling kettle or observe an apple fall. Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.

He wanted to teach the children that all bodies are beautiful.

But there's no doubt that children have an innate sense of humor. No matter how young they are, they always know when something's really funny.

children could be taught to hear and feel music in their minds rather than just with their ears; how to make them feel music as a thing of movement rather than a dull, lifeless subject; how to awaken a child's sensitivity.

Punya mata, tapi tidak melihat keindahan; punya telinga, tapi tidak mendengar musik; punya pikiran, tapi tidak memahami kebenaran; punya hati tapi hati itu tak pernah tergerak dan karena itu tidak pernah terbakar. Itulah hal-hal yang harus ditakuti, kata Kepala Sekolah.

Totto-chan regretted it with all her heart. Yes, that was it. What on earth made her beat the boy she liked so much? She Sharpened his pencils every day! But it was too late. She could never be his bride now. "I'm going to go on sharpening his pencils all the same," Totto-chan decided. "After all, I love him.

That's splendid. That will do. You got up this morning. You've made everyone understand that. You don't have to be amusing or make people laugh to be a good speaker. The important thing is that you said you hadn't anything to talk about & you did find something to say.

Little did the children realize then that these walks - a time of freedom and play for them - were in reality precious lessons in science, history and biology.

He wanted to teach the children that all bodies are beautiful. Among the pupils at Tomoe were some who had polio, like Yasuaki-chan, or were very small, or otherwise handicapped, and he felt if they bared their bodies and played together it would rid them feelings of shame and help to prevent them from developing an inferiority complex. As it turned out, while the handicapped children were shy at first, get soon began to enjoy themselves, and finally they got over their shyness completely.

Pendidikan zaman sekarang yagn telah bergantung pada huruf dan bahasa mungkin telah menyebabkan kemunduran kepekaan anak-anak untuk melihat alam lewat hati, menangkap bisikan Tuhan dan menerima ilham (Pak Kobayashi, hal. 75)

Besides that, he thought it was essential for them to learn how to get up in front of people & express their ideas clearly & freely without being embarrassed, so he decided to put his theory into practice.