In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy.
Ivan IllichRead
Modern medicine is a negation of health. It isn't organised to serve human health, but only itself, as an institution. It makes more people sick than it heals.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques modern medicine for prioritizing its own institutional interests over actual patient health.
Ivan Illich's quote highlights a critical view of modern medicine, suggesting that it has become an institution that prioritizes its own operational needs rather than genuinely promoting the health of individuals. He argues that the system, as it stands, may cause more harm than good, reflecting a need to reevaluate the principles and practices of healthcare to ensure they truly benefit patients.
Themes
HealthMedical SystemIllnessCritiqueMedicine
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a health seminar to encourage discussion about the shortcomings of modern healthcare.
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School prepares for the alienating institutionalization of life by teaching the need to be taught. Once this lesson is learned, people lose their incentive to grow in independence; they no longer find relatedness attractive, and close themselves off to the surprises which life offers when it is not predetermined by institutional definition.
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The pupil is ... 'schooled' to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new.
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The myth of unending consumption has taken the place of the belief in life everlasting.
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Effective health care depends on self-care; this fact is currently heralded as if it were a discovery.
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