Sullivan had to confront the two central issues of education: the
need for discipline and the need for freedom. Her experience taught
her that, unless the pupil is able to submit in some measure to the
authority of the teacher, the process of education cannot begin.
Yet unless the teacher is able to respond directly to the student's
questions and needs, the process will degenerate into rote excercise
and boredom.
-- Merle Rubin, writing of Anne Sullivan in
review of The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller. Los Angeles Times May 4, 2003.