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32 Thought-Provoking Quotes By Lev Vygotsky

Famous As: Soviet Psychologist Known for His Work on Psychological Development in Children
Born On: 1896
Died On: 1934
Born In: Orsha, Belarus
Died At Age: 37
Lev Vygotsky was a prominent Soviet psychologistand the founder of bio-social development and an unfinished Marxist theory of human culture. He propelled a new psychological theory of consciousness and was an advocate for a ‘science of the Superman.’ Some of his noteworthy works include ‘Thinking and Speech,’ ‘Educational Psychology,’ ‘Tool and Symbol in Child Development,’ ‘The Socialist alteration of Man,’ ‘The Problem of the Cultural Development of The Child,’ and various others. Scroll through notable quotes by Lev Vygotsky, which have been extracted from his essays, interviews, works, researches, papers, thoughts, writings, books and life.
In play, a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself.

In play, a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself.

Lev Vygotsky
Language is the tool of the tools

Language is the tool of the tools

Lev Vygotsky
Human learning presupposes a specific social nature and a process by which children grow into the intellectual life of those around them

Human learning presupposes a specific social nature and a process by which children grow into the intellectual life of those around them

Lev Vygotsky
Love can reach the same level of talent, and even genius, as the discovery of differential calculus.

Love can reach the same level of talent, and even genius, as the discovery of differential calculus.

Lev Vygotsky
The true direction of the development of thinking is not from the individual to the social, but from the social to the individual.

The true direction of the development of thinking is not from the individual to the social, but from the social to the individual.

Lev Vygotsky
A child's greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action.

A child's greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action.

Lev Vygotsky
A mind cannot be independent of culture.

A mind cannot be independent of culture.

Lev Vygotsky
What a child can do in cooperation today, he can do alone tomorrow.

What a child can do in cooperation today, he can do alone tomorrow.

Lev Vygotsky
Through others we become ourselves.

Through others we become ourselves.

Lev Vygotsky

The most significant moment in the course of intellectual development, which gives birth to the purely human forms of practical and abstract intelligence, occurs when speech and practical activity, two previously completely independent lines of development, converge.

Lev Vygotsky

Somehow our society has formed a one-sided view of the human personality, and for some reason everyone understood giftedness and talent only as it applied to the intellect. But it is possible not only to be talented in one's thoughts but also to be talented in one's feelings as well.

Lev Vygotsky

Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals.

Lev Vygotsky
There is reason to believe that voluntary activity, more than highly developed intellect, distinguishes humans from the animals which stand closest to them.

There is reason to believe that voluntary activity, more than highly developed intellect, distinguishes humans from the animals which stand closest to them.

Lev Vygotsky
The teacher must adopt the role of facilitator not content provider.

The teacher must adopt the role of facilitator not content provider.

Lev Vygotsky
Learning is more than the acquisition of the ability to think; it is the acquisition of many specialized abilities for thinking about a variety of things.

Learning is more than the acquisition of the ability to think; it is the acquisition of many specialized abilities for thinking about a variety of things.

Lev Vygotsky
It is through others that we become ourselves.

It is through others that we become ourselves.

Lev Vygotsky
A word devoid of thought is a dead thing, and a thought unembodied in words remains a shadow.

A word devoid of thought is a dead thing, and a thought unembodied in words remains a shadow.

Lev Vygotsky

The specifically human capacity for language enables children to provide for auxiliary tools in the solution of difficult tasks, to overcome impulsive action, to plan a solution to a problem prior to its execution, and to master their own behavior.

Lev Vygotsky
Thought is not merely expressed in words, it comes into existence through them

Thought is not merely expressed in words, it comes into existence through them

Lev Vygotsky
The only 'good' learning is that which is in advance of development.

The only 'good' learning is that which is in advance of development.

Lev Vygotsky
The child begins to perceive the world not only through his [or her] eyes but also through his [or her] speech

The child begins to perceive the world not only through his [or her] eyes but also through his [or her] speech

Lev Vygotsky
Psychology teaches us at every step that though two types of activity can have the same external manifestation, whether in origin or essence, their nature may differ most profoundly.

Psychology teaches us at every step that though two types of activity can have the same external manifestation, whether in origin or essence, their nature may differ most profoundly.

Lev Vygotsky
Experience teaches us that thought does not express itself in words, but rather realizes itself in them

Experience teaches us that thought does not express itself in words, but rather realizes itself in them

Lev Vygotsky
By giving our students practice in talking with others, we give them frames for thinking on their own.

By giving our students practice in talking with others, we give them frames for thinking on their own.

Lev Vygotsky
A child’s greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action.

A child’s greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action.

Lev Vygotsky
... People with great passions, people who accomplish great deeds, people who possess strong feelings, even people with great minds and a strong personality, rarely come out of good little boys and girls.

... People with great passions, people who accomplish great deeds, people who possess strong feelings, even people with great minds and a strong personality, rarely come out of good little boys and girls.

Lev Vygotsky

Any human act that gives rise to something new is referred to as a creative act, regardless of whether what is created is a physical object or some mental or emotional construct that lives within the person who created it and is known only to him.

Lev Vygotsky

Childhood is a complex dialectical process characterized by periodicity, unevenness in the development of different functions, metamorphosis or qualitative transformation of one form into another, intertwining of external and internal factors, and adaptive processes which overcome impediments that the child encounters.

Lev Vygotsky

The distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers

Lev Vygotsky

Pedagogy must be oriented not to the yesterday, but to the tomorrow of the child's development. Only then can it call to life in the process of education those processes of development which now lie in the zone of proximal development

Lev Vygotsky