In 1933 he finished a seven-year school of primary education after which his mother escorted him to Kremenchuk where he enrolled into a local medical college (tekhnikum).

Upon graduation, he returned to native lands where he worked as a teacher of the Ukrainian language and literature in the Onufriivka middle school.

During World War II he volunteered to the front-lines in 1941 and as a junior politruk was severely wounded in January 1942 during the defense of Moscow.

[1] Sukhomlynsky taught his students that the most precious thing in life is a human being and that there is no greater honor than to bring joy to other people.

Another aspect of being truly human was the development of the intellect, so that the horizons of the mind grew ever wider, gradually encompassing the whole world and reaching into the depths of space.

Sukhomlynsky could not agree with those who sought to give education a purely utilitarian focus, who thought that knowledge was worthwhile only if it found direct application in the workplace.

For him, the study of foreign languages and of astronomy were essential in order for a person to appreciate the world of which they were a part, and to broaden their minds.

Only if children's knowledge was used to improve their environment and the lives of people around them, would it lead to the formation of an active philosophy of life, to a practical moral stance.

He taught them to become more aware of the inner world of other people, to read others' eyes, to recognize feelings of joy, of sorrow or confusion.