Ivan Illich Quotes

“Les enfants sont par définition des apprentis, et apprendre est l'activité humaine qui nécessite le moins de manipulation par autrui. La majeure partie de l'apprentissage n'est pas le resultat de l'instruction. Elle serait plutôt le résultat d'une participation dans un environnement chargé de sens.”
― Ivan Illich

“Q: Is there a book from your reading that has been particularly inspirational to you?

The Power Broker by Robert Caro is the most inspirational book I've ever read on the subject of transportation and urban planning …but I lived in New York City and knew many of the places and people he was talking about. I'm not sure if it would be as inspirational to others. The book won a Pulitzer Prize when it came out in the 1970s. Caro was a newspaper reporter who wanted to write a book about political power– how it was obtained and wielded and what role agencies played in government. In describing the life of Robert Moses, a highway builder, unelected state bureaucrat and creator of the modern “highway department,” Caro was able to describe (in a microcosm) the transportation and political history of America.
Another great book is Ivan Illich's “Energy and Equity.” That one is a quick read.

(2015 interview with Microcosm Publishing)”
― Andy Singer

“Money may always threaten health. Too much money corrupts it.”
― Ivan Illich, Limits to Medicine: Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health