Note 86 — Chapter V · THE RENAISSANCE AND THE THEORIES OF EDUCATION IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
William Harold Payne translation
Has not this extravagant preference for things, as distinguished from words, become a new superstition in educational theory? Considering the misuse made of words by Scholasticism, it was time for Montaigne to summon the attention outwards to sensible realities; but it is more than doubtful whether there is any valid ground for the absolute rule of modern pedagogy, “first the idea, then the term.” In actual experience, there is no invariable sequence. The really important thing is, that terms be made significant. (P.)