--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man must choose whether to be rich in…" description: "\"Man must choose whether to be rich in things or in the freedom to use them.\" — Ivan Illich" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/598/ivan-illich-3546_economic-inequality_man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-th_304811.png" --- # Man must choose whether to be rich in things or in the… ![“Man must choose whether to be rich in things or in the freedom to use them.” quote by Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/598/ivan-illich-3546_economic-inequality_man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-th_304811.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/598/ivan-illich-3546_economic-inequality_man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-th_304811.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/598/ivan-illich-3546_economic-inequality_man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-th_304811.png) > “Man must choose whether to be rich in things or in the freedom to use them.” [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. Highlights a choice between material wealth and the liberty to use resources freely, suggesting freedom is more valuable. **In simple terms:** Choose freedom over material wealth. Key Takeaway Prioritize liberty over possessions. Themes freedom materialism choice Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - budgeting - career decisions - political activism Key Concepts economics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What does freedom mean to you? - How can you balance wealth and liberty? A Different Perspective Freedom can be limited by systemic constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Economic inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic-inequality/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) ## Related quotes > [“Most people choose not to be rich. 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The middle class is gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/you-can-only-choose-between-rich-and-poor-the-middle-class-is-gone/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [Obviously the fuel mapping pace is a lot of what happens with your strategy, whether you choose to go full rich or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denny-hamlin/obviously-the-fuel-mapping-pace-is-a-lot-of-what-happens-with-your/) [Denny Hamlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denny-hamlin/) > [Poor people choose now. Rich people choose balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-harv-eker/poor-people-choose-now-rich-people-choose-balance/) [T. Harv Eker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-harv-eker/) > [My Rich Dad said, 'All of us have the power of choice. I choose to be rich, and I make that choice every day.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/my-rich-dad-said-all-of-us-have-the-power-of-choice-i-choose-to-be/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [Be free always, because of all things, freedom is best, though it is not easily won and must be chosen by those who will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-borchardt/be-free-always-because-of-all-things-freedom-is-best-though-it-is-not/) [Alice Borchardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-borchardt/) > [Figuring things out for yourself is the only freedom anyone really has. Use that freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ironside/figuring-things-out-for-yourself-is-the-only-freedom-anyone-really/) [Michael Ironside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ironside/) > [Freedom is not synonymous with an easy life. ... There are many difficult things about freedom: It does not give you safety, it creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/freedom-is-not-synonymous-with-an-easy-life-there-are-many-difficult/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [People make filthy things with the freedom they regained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-lem/people-make-filthy-things-with-the-freedom-they-regained/) [Stanislaw Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-lem/) > [“In essential things, unity. In nonessential things, freedom. In all things, love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-batterson/in-essential-things-unity-in-nonessential-things-freedom-in-all/) [Mark Batterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-batterson/) > [Freedom to me can be so many things; freedom to be myself, to express myself and do the things I want to do, freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-freedia/freedom-to-me-can-be-so-many-things-freedom-to-be-myself-to-express/) [Big Freedia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-freedia/) > [Freedom is a very great reality, but it means above all things, freedom from lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/freedom-is-a-very-great-reality-but-it-means-above-all-things-freedom/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [The big picture is a nice way to think of things if you have the freedom to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-white/the-big-picture-is-a-nice-way-to-think-of-things-if-you-have-the/) [Jack White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-white/) > [“She said that perhaps it was not so easy to be very rich; that if any one had so many things always, one might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hodgson-burnett/she-said-that-perhaps-it-was-not-so-easy-to-be-very-rich-that-if-any/) [Frances Hodgson Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hodgson-burnett/) ## 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/) > [“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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It is war between poverty and wealth. ... This moneyed power is fast eating up the substance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-sylvis/our-cause-is-a-common-one-it-is-war-between-poverty-and-wealth-this/) William H. Sylvis > [Every dollar that the boss did not work for, one of us worked for a dollar and didn't get it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-dudley/every-dollar-that-the-boss-did-not-work-for-one-of-us-worked-for-a/) William C. Dudley > [“We also need to understand that white supremacy is at the heart of the problem—not just a racially associated economic inequality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becky-bond/we-also-need-to-understand-that-white-supremacy-is-at-the-heart-of/) [Becky Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becky-bond/) > [Solving the population problem is not going to solve the problems of racism, of sexism, of religious intolerance, of war, of gross economic inequality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-r-ehrlich/solving-the-population-problem-is-not-going-to-solve-the-problems-of/) [Paul R. Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-r-ehrlich/) > [The tech-driven economy leads to a two-tier job market where workers are either critical or 'commodity.' This divisive 'winner-take-all' mentality hurts most Americans and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-steyer/the-tech-driven-economy-leads-to-a-two-tier-job-market-where-workers/) [Tom Steyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-steyer/) > [God, how patient are Thy poor! These corporations and masters of manipulation in finance heaping up great fortunes by a system of legalized extortion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-how-patient-are-thy-poor-these-corporations-and-masters-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“On average, the real incomes of middle-class families have grown twice as fast under Democrats as they have under Republicans, while the real incomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-m-bartels/on-average-the-real-incomes-of-middle-class-families-have-grown-twice/) [Larry M. Bartels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-m-bartels/) [Browse all 108 Economic inequality quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic-inequality/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man must choose whether to be rich in things or in the freedom to use them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ivan Illich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-things-or-in-the-freedom-to-use/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Economic inequality" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-things-or-in-the-freedom-to-use/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/598/ivan-illich-3546_economic-inequality_man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-th_304811.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/598/ivan-illich-3546_economic-inequality_man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-th_304811.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/598/ivan-illich-3546_economic-inequality_man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-th_304811.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Man must choose whether to be rich in things or in the freedom to use them.” — Ivan Illich", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ivan Illich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Man must choose whether to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-things-or-in-the-freedom-to-use/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/man-must-choose-whether-to-be-rich-in-things-or-in-the-freedom-to-use/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```