In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy.
Ivan IllichRead
Effective health care depends on self-care; this fact is currently heralded as if it were a discovery.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Self-care is essential for effective health care and is often overlooked.
Ivan Illich points out that effective healthcare is fundamentally reliant on individuals taking responsibility for their own health through self-care. This notion, while vital, is often presented as a new revelation, highlighting the ongoing need to recognize and prioritize personal health management as a crucial component of overall well-being.
Themes
HealthSelf-CareWell-BeingPersonal ResponsibilityHealthcare
In practice
Example use cases
In a health seminar discussing preventative measures, one could quote Illich to emphasize the importance of self-care.
More from Ivan Illich
All quotes βSchool is the advertising agency which makes you believe that you need the society as it is.
Ivan IllichRead
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.
Ivan IllichRead
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.
Ivan IllichRead
The myth of unending consumption has taken the place of the belief in life everlasting.
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.
Ivan IllichRead
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