--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In schools, including universities, most…" description: "\"In schools, including universities, most resources are spent to purchase the time and motivation of a limited number of people to take up predetermined..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd9/ivan-illich-3546_alternatives_in-schools-including-universities-most-r_3128295.jpg" --- # In schools, including universities, most resources are… ![“In schools, including universities, most resources are spent to purchase the time and motivation of a limited number of people to take up predetermined problems in a ritually defined setting. The most radical alternative to school would be a network or service which gave each man the same…” quote by Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd9/ivan-illich-3546_alternatives_in-schools-including-universities-most-r_3128295.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd9/ivan-illich-3546_alternatives_in-schools-including-universities-most-r_3128295.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd9/ivan-illich-3546_alternatives_in-schools-including-universities-most-r_3128295.jpg) > “In schools, including universities, most resources are spent to purchase the time and motivation of a limited number of people to take up predetermined problems in a ritually defined setting. The most radical alternative to school would be a network or service which gave each man the same opportunity to share his current concern with others motivated by the same concern.” [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques education for focusing resources on a few motivated individuals, proposing a shared network where everyone can discuss concerns equally. **In simple terms:** Education should be more inclusive and collaborative. Key Takeaway Promote open, shared learning spaces. Themes education equity collaboration Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical visionary When to use this quote - classrooms - online forums - community workshops - peer mentoring Key Concepts social theory networked learning Questions to Reflect On - How can we democratize learning? - What barriers exist to shared concern platforms? A Different Perspective Implementing such networks faces institutional resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Setting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/setting/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) ## Related quotes > [Schools, including universities, must insist upon the prestige of reading and especially of reading old books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-f-will-2/schools-including-universities-must-insist-upon-the-prestige-of/) [George F Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-f-will-2/) > [School prepares for the alienating institutionalization of life by teaching the need to be taught. Once this lesson is learned, people lose their incentive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/school-prepares-for-the-alienating-institutionalization-of-life-by-2/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [Human beings are 'emotional amoral egoists,' driven above all by emotional self-interest. All of our thoughts, beliefs and motivations are neurochemically mediated, some predetermined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nayef-al-rodhan/human-beings-are-emotional-amoral-egoists-driven-above-all-by/) [Nayef Al-Rodhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nayef-al-rodhan/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time. The first is as rigid and metallic as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there-2/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [If a person is working toward a predetermined goal and knows where to go, then that person is successful. If a person does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/if-a-person-is-working-toward-a-predetermined-goal-and-knows-where-to/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [It was scary. But it was so liberating. I thought, This is not predetermined - I get to choose. There are some days where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/it-was-scary-but-it-was-so-liberating-i-thought-this-is-not/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [“Predetermined fate is the slogan of the incapable people; with better ideas, you can always have a better fate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/predetermined-fate-is-the-slogan-of-the-incapable-people-with-better/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [The Lord has never restricted Himself to move by any predetermined formula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-joyner/the-lord-has-never-restricted-himself-to-move-by-any-predetermined/) [Rick Joyner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-joyner/) > [Satan tried to put Jesus Christ on the way to becoming King of the world and Savior of men in a way other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/satan-tried-to-put-jesus-christ-on-the-way-to-becoming-king-of-the/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [It is the striving after perfection that makes one an artist. It is the sense that one is imperfect, unfulfilled, unfinished. One attempts by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/it-is-the-striving-after-perfection-that-makes-one-an-artist-it-is/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [It is only by demanding the impossible of the piano that you can obtain from it all that is possible. For the psychologist this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-neuhaus/it-is-only-by-demanding-the-impossible-of-the-piano-that-you-can/) [Heinrich Neuhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-neuhaus/) > [“I’m not sure I like the idea that my life is already predetermined, though, and that I do not have a choice”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hinesh-vithal/i-m-not-sure-i-like-the-idea-that-my-life-is-already-predetermined/) [Hinesh Vithal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hinesh-vithal/) > [At 12 years old in the dangerous world that I was in, with a very difficult home life, I found the stage was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-stewart/at-12-years-old-in-the-dangerous-world-that-i-was-in-with-a-very/) [Patrick Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-stewart/) > [Without adventure all civilization is full of decay. Adventure rarely reaches its predetermined end. Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Nothing is predetermined for us, and yet all our possible choices are threads in the vast weave of things, so that we have free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/nothing-is-predetermined-for-us-and-yet-all-our-possible-choices-are/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) ## More by Ivan Illich > [“Universal education through schooling is not feasible. It would be no more feasible if it were attempted by means of alternative institutions built on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/universal-education-through-schooling-is-not-feasible-it-would-be-no/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [The re-establishment of an ecological balance depends on the ability of society to counteract the progressive materialization of values. The ecological balance cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-re-establishment-of-an-ecological-balance-depends-on-the-ability/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [The new experience that has replaced dignified suffering is artificially prolonged, opaque, depersonalized maintenance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-new-experience-that-has-replaced-dignified-suffering-is/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [Losses of a kind of satisfaction that have no market equivalent don't show up in the calculations of economists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/losses-of-a-kind-of-satisfaction-that-have-no-market-equivalent-don-t/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [Schools are designed on the assumption that there is a secret to everything in life; that the quality of life depends upon knowing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/schools-are-designed-on-the-assumption-that-there-is-a-secret-to/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [The State shall make no law with respect to the establishment of education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-state-shall-make-no-law-with-respect-to-the-establishment-of/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [What kinds of things and people might learners want to be in contact with in order to learn?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/what-kinds-of-things-and-people-might-learners-want-to-be-in-contact/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [The pupil is ... 'schooled' to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-pupil-is-schooled-to-confuse-teaching-with-learning-grade/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [To deschool means to abolish the power of one person to oblige another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/to-deschool-means-to-abolish-the-power-of-one-person-to-oblige-another/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [Societies in which most people depend for most of their goods and services on the personal whim, kindness, or skill of another are called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/societies-in-which-most-people-depend-for-most-of-their-goods-and/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [“P3- modernised poverty combines the lack of power over circumstances with a loss of personal potency”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/p3-modernised-poverty-combines-the-lack-of-power-over-circumstances/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [“Today, one must either be isolated and cut off, or a carefully guarded, affluent drop-out, to allow one's children to play in an environment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/today-one-must-either-be-isolated-and-cut-off-or-a-carefully-guarded/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [The household became the place where the consumption of wages takes place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-household-became-the-place-where-the-consumption-of-wages-takes/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [Man must choose whether to be rich in things or in the freedom to use them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-things-or-in-the-freedom-to-use/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [“Welfare bureaucracies claim a professional, political, and financial monopoly over the social imagination, setting standards of what is valuable and what is feasible. 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