16 Ivan Illich Quotes for You to Enjoy

Ivan Illich

American Sociologist

Born: Sep 4, 1926

Died: Dec 2, 2002

Become Compulsory Health Man Our People

Related authors: C. Wright Mills Charles Horton Cooley Deborah Tannen Matthew Desmond Samuel P. Huntington Talcott Parsons Thomas E. Mann William Julius Wilson

Modern medicine is a negation of health. It isn't organized to serve human health, but only itself, as an institution. It makes more people sick than it heals. Ivan Illich

Health People Medicine Sick Negation More Only More People Institution Heals Makes Itself Than Modern Human Human Health Organized Serve Medical

The compulsion to do good is an innate American trait. Only North Americans seem to believe that they always should, may, and actually can choose somebody with whom to share their blessings. Ultimately this attitude leads to bombing people into the acceptance of gifts. Ivan Illich

Attitude Good Acceptance People Somebody Believe Gifts Seem Only Compulsion Share Leads Blessings Always Ultimately North Trait American May Should Choose Whom Actually Bombing Innate

The public school has become the established church of secular society. Ivan Illich

School Church Secular Become Society Established Public Public School

Healthy people are those who live in healthy homes on a healthy diet; in an environment equally fit for birth, growth work, healing, and dying... Healthy people need no bureaucratic interference to mate, give birth, share the human condition and die. Ivan Illich

Work Health Healing People Healthy Live Birth Those Give Share Environment Equally Mate Healthy Diet Healthy People Condition Fit Die Bureaucratic Diet Human Dying Human Condition Interference Who Homes Growth Need

Effective health care depends on self-care; this fact is currently heralded as if it were a discovery. Ivan Illich

Health Care Fact Health Care Were Discovery Effective Currently Depends

School divides life into two segments, which are increasingly of comparable length. As much as anything else, schooling implies custodial care for persons who are declared undesirable elsewhere by the simple fact that a school has been built to serve them. Ivan Illich

Life Simple School Care Increasingly Else Elsewhere Has-Been Segments Simple Fact Fact Divides Implies Schooling Built Been Undesirable Anything Anything Else Which Length Them Persons Much Who Comparable Serve Two

There is no greater distance than that between a man in prayer and God. Ivan Illich

God Prayer Man Distance Between Greater Than

At the moment of death I hope to be surprised. Ivan Illich

Death Hope Surprised Moment

Once the Third World has become a mass market for the goods, products, and processes which are designed by the rich for themselves, the discrepancy between demand for these Western artifacts and the supply will increase indefinitely. Ivan Illich

World Will Become Rich Increase Market Once Indefinitely Supply Between Demand Mass Mass Market Goods Western Discrepancy Which Processes Themselves Products Designed Third Third World

The telephone lets anybody say what he wants to the person of his choice; he can conduct business, express love, or pick a quarrel. It is impossible for bureaucrats to define what people say to each other on the phone, even though they can interfere with - or protect - the privacy of their exchange. Ivan Illich

Love Privacy Business People Phone Impossible Other Define Telephone Say Though People Say Exchange Pick He Protect Quarrel His Conduct Person Bureaucrats Anybody Wants Choice Interfere Even Each Express Lets

By the early seventeenth century, a new consensus began to arise: the idea that man was born incompetent for society and remained so unless he was provided with 'education.' Ivan Illich

Education Man Society Unless Born Remained Arise He Idea New Provided Began Century Incompetent Early Consensus

Schools that are freely accessible allow the organization of certain specific learning tasks which a person might propose to himself. Schools, when they are compulsory - as we see at this moment in the United States - create a dazed population, a 'learned' population, a mentally pretentious population, such as we have never seen before. Ivan Illich

Learning Organization Pretentious Seen Before States See Mentally Compulsory Propose Allow Never Freely Dazed Schools Himself Learned Accessible Person Tasks Which Might Create Certain Moment Population United Specific United States

The college and university systems, at least, have become like television. There's a bit of this and a bit of that and some compulsory program with its components connected in a way that only a planner could understand. Ivan Illich

College Become Way Bit Television Systems Components Some Only Compulsory Could Like Understand Least Planner Connected Program University

The idea of Homo monolinguis - one-languaged man - the idea of children having to grow into one system before we confuse them with another mental system, is an idea with which, unfortunately, many people are brought up now. Ivan Illich

Man People Before Confuse System Brought Mental Having Idea Another Up Children Unfortunately Which Them Many Grow Now Homo

Most people, throughout history, haven't learned one language to the exclusion of another. You learn to speak differently to a peasant and to a shoemaker. You speak differently to your mother, who comes from Burgundy, and to your father, who comes from Swabia. Ivan Illich

History You People Speak Mother Language Father Throughout Exclusion Most Learn Learned Another Burgundy Your Who Differently Peasant

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