--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So persuasive is the power of the…" description: "\"So persuasive is the power of the institutions we have created that they shape not only our preferences but actually our sense of possibilities.\" — Iva..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/ivan-illich-3546_institutions_so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-instit_2703334.png" --- # So persuasive is the power of the institutions we have… ![“So persuasive is the power of the institutions we have created that they shape not only our preferences but actually our sense of possibilities.” quote by Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/ivan-illich-3546_institutions_so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-instit_2703334.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/ivan-illich-3546_institutions_so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-instit_2703334.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/ivan-illich-3546_institutions_so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-instit_2703334.png) > “So persuasive is the power of the institutions we have created that they shape not only our preferences but actually our sense of possibilities.” [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. Institutions shape not only preferences but also what we deem possible, limiting imagination. **In simple terms:** Institutions define our sense of possibility. Key Takeaway Question institutional constraints. Themes power institutions possibility Mood critical analytical Type sociological philosophical When to use this quote - education reform - urban planning - policy making Key Concepts sociology critical theory Questions to Reflect On - How do institutions expand your horizons? - What alternatives can break institutional limits? A Different Perspective Institutions can also enable new possibilities, not just limit. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Persuasive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persuasive/) [Possibilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibilities/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) ## Related quotes > [Also, and this may sound naïve, but since my early days in journalism, I've felt that getting as close as possible to truth, revealing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-fink/also-and-this-may-sound-na-ve-but-since-my-early-days-in-journalism-i/) [Sheri Fink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-fink/) > [Beauty has a persuasive power all its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janette-rallison/beauty-has-a-persuasive-power-all-its-own/) [Janette Rallison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janette-rallison/) > [Odours have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions or will. The persuasive power of an odour cannot be fended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/odours-have-a-power-of-persuasion-stronger-than-that-of-words/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [“I think you’re understating the persuasive power of our girl parts, but let’s put that aside for a minute. You don’t think that would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skye-warren/i-think-you-re-understating-the-persuasive-power-of-our-girl-parts/) [Skye Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skye-warren/) > [“postmoderns have lost faith in the idea of objective verification. Instead, they focus on the persuasive power of the stories we tell”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heath-white/postmoderns-have-lost-faith-in-the-idea-of-objective-verification/) [Heath White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heath-white/) > [You have very little morally persuasive power with people who can feel your underlying contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/you-have-very-little-morally-persuasive-power-with-people-who-can/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [What does democracy come down to? The persuasive power of slogans invented by wily self-seeking politicians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/what-does-democracy-come-down-to-the-persuasive-power-of-slogans/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [I am not unconscious of the persuasive power exerted by these considerations to drag men along in the current; but I am not at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-f-wade/i-am-not-unconscious-of-the-persuasive-power-exerted-by-these/) [Benjamin F. Wade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-f-wade/) > [We like to imagine that in history, truth will prevail through sheer persuasive power. Sadly, this is not the case. Truth needs champions...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llewellyn-rockwell/we-like-to-imagine-that-in-history-truth-will-prevail-through-sheer/) [Llewellyn Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llewellyn-rockwell/) > [“The mistake is to assume that rulers who came to power through institutions cannot change or destroy those very institutions—even when that is exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-mistake-is-to-assume-that-rulers-who-came-to-power-through/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [The greatest failure is that although we have created institutions, we have not created a civil society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/the-greatest-failure-is-that-although-we-have-created-institutions-we/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [I think these large bureaucratic institutions are created in some way explicitly to inoculate anyone from actual responsibility, to create a much more diffuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raymond/i-think-these-large-bureaucratic-institutions-are-created-in-some-way/) [Jonathan Raymond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raymond/) > [“people’s “declared preferences” — what they say they want — are far different from their “revealed preferences” — what they actually do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nir-eyal/people-s-declared-preferences-what-they-say-they-want-are-far/) [Nir Eyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nir-eyal/) > [When you decide to like something, I mean, you may feel you're sort of innocently putting out your preferences, but actually you're delivering something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wu/when-you-decide-to-like-something-i-mean-you-may-feel-you-re-sort-of/) [Tim Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wu/) > [You'll often find that people's declared preferences - what they say they want - are far different from their revealed preferences - what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nir-eyal/you-ll-often-find-that-people-s-declared-preferences-what-they-say/) [Nir Eyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nir-eyal/) ## 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. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/welfare-bureaucracies-claim-a-professional-political-and-financial/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) [Explore all 122 Ivan Illich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) ## More Institutions quotes > [The minimum that most minimalists want leaves in place just the institutions who protect their interests. That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/the-minimum-that-most-minimalists-want-leaves-in-place-just-the/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [“Economists have a singular method of procedure. There are only two kinds of institutions for them, artificial and natural. The institutions of feudalism are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/economists-have-a-singular-method-of-procedure-there-are-only-two/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [I find the family the most mysterious and fascinating institution in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/i-find-the-family-the-most-mysterious-and-fascinating-institution-in/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that goes far beyond its achievements and it is the task of democracy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/every-profession-has-an-ideology-and-a-drive-for-power-that-goes-far/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) > [In coming to that agreement, my party had a clear philosophy throughout. In Northern Ireland, we should have institutions that respected the differences of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hume/in-coming-to-that-agreement-my-party-had-a-clear-philosophy/) [John Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hume/) > [If you ask why I do what I do - I want to make a difference. I don't just want to maintain the status…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-broad/if-you-ask-why-i-do-what-i-do-i-want-to-make-a-difference-i-don-t/) [Eli Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-broad/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [It is impossible to build enduring institutions without solid values. For us, the fundamental value is that associated with democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-henrique-cardoso/it-is-impossible-to-build-enduring-institutions-without-solid-values/) [Fernando Henrique Cardoso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-henrique-cardoso/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Every morning when I pick up the newspaper and read about an earthquake in Japan or problems in European financial institutions, the first question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-schapiro/every-morning-when-i-pick-up-the-newspaper-and-read-about-an/) [Mary Schapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-schapiro/) > [The "family" has clearly emerged anew in the late 1970s as a central subject for discussion, debate, research and writing in bothscholarly and popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/the-family-has-clearly-emerged-anew-in-the-late-1970s-as-a-central/) Sheila Kamerman > [Individually, museums are fine institutions, dedicated to the high values of preservation, education and truth; collectively, their growth in numbers points to the imaginative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hewison/individually-museums-are-fine-institutions-dedicated-to-the-high/) [Robert Hewison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hewison/) > [The more subsidized it is, the less free it is. What is known as 'free education' is the least free of all, for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-more-subsidized-it-is-the-less-free-it-is-what-is-known-as-free/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [It may be changing, but still it's the one place, that total control of an institution, that African Americans have. So sometimes, you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-emerson/it-may-be-changing-but-still-it-s-the-one-place-that-total-control-of/) [Michael Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-emerson/) [Browse all 2,906 Institutions quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "So persuasive is the power of the institutions we have created that they shape not only our preferences but actually our sense of possibilities.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ivan Illich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-institutions-we-have-created-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Institutions" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-institutions-we-have-created-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/ivan-illich-3546_institutions_so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-instit_2703334.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/ivan-illich-3546_institutions_so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-instit_2703334.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bee/ivan-illich-3546_institutions_so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-instit_2703334.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So persuasive is the power of the institutions we have created that they shape not only our preferences but…” — 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": "So persuasive is the power of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-institutions-we-have-created-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/so-persuasive-is-the-power-of-the-institutions-we-have-created-that/#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 } } ] } ```