I am firmly convinced that all the phenomena of the child-world, those
which delight us as well as those which grieve us, depend upon fixed
laws as definite as those of the cosmos, the planetary system, and the
operations of nature; and it is therefore possible to discover them
and examine them. When once we know and have assimilated these laws,
we shall be able powerfully to counteract any retrograde and faulty
tendencies in the children, and to encourage, at the same time, all
that is good and virtuous.