--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The first enslaving illusion is the idea…" description: "\"“The first enslaving illusion is the idea that people are born to be consumers and that they can attain any of their goals by purchasing goods and serv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/ivan-illich-3546_consumerism_the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea_780193.png" --- # The first enslaving illusion is the idea that people are… ![“The first enslaving illusion is the idea that people are born to be consumers and that they can attain any of their goals by purchasing goods and services…What people do or make but will not or cannot put up for sale is as immeasurable and as invaluable for the economy as the oxygen they breathe.” quote by Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/ivan-illich-3546_consumerism_the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea_780193.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/ivan-illich-3546_consumerism_the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea_780193.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/ivan-illich-3546_consumerism_the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea_780193.png) > ““The first enslaving illusion is the idea that people are born to be consumers and that they can attain any of their goals by purchasing goods and services…What people do or make but will not or cannot put up for sale is as immeasurable and as invaluable for the economy as the oxygen they breathe.”” [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. Consumerism masks true value, as non‑marketable aspects of life—like breathing—are essential yet invisible to the economy. **In simple terms:** True worth isn’t measured by price. Key Takeaway Value what cannot be bought. Themes consumerism economics humanity environment Mood thoughtful concerned Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal finance - urban planning - healthcare policy Key Concepts sociology economics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What essential things are ignored by market values? - How can societies honor non‑commodity contributions? A Different Perspective Market logic can overlook basic human needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consumerism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumerism/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Enslaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enslaving/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value/) ## Related quotes > [That's the illusion - the idea that you can be all right on the inside and not act it out - and it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/that-s-the-illusion-the-idea-that-you-can-be-all-right-on-the-inside/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [The goals of development are always and everywhere stated in terms of consumer value packages standardized around the North Atlantic-and therefore always and everywhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-goals-of-development-are-always-and-everywhere-stated-in-terms-of/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [“The flood of cheap manufactures, for which the people have no need,destroys their industries. They become dependent on this trade and the demand for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-unsworth/the-flood-of-cheap-manufactures-for-which-the-people-have-no-need/) [Barry Unsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-unsworth/) > [There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/there-is-nothing-more-enticing-disenchanting-and-enslaving-than-the/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Rulers exist entirely through the persons of others. Their goal is in their subjects, in the activity of enslaving. They are as dependent as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/rulers-exist-entirely-through-the-persons-of-others-their-goal-is-in/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“But, alas, this wealth, instead of blessing the race, has been the means of enslaving it. The few have come in possession of all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/but-alas-this-wealth-instead-of-blessing-the-race-has-been-the-means/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [One of the best ways of enslaving a people is to keep them from education... The second way of enslaving a people is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/one-of-the-best-ways-of-enslaving-a-people-is-to-keep-them-from-2/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [One of the best ways of enslaving a people is to keep them from education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/one-of-the-best-ways-of-enslaving-a-people-is-to-keep-them-from/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [The average European does not seem to feel free until he succeeds in enslaving and oppressing others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/the-average-european-does-not-seem-to-feel-free-until-he-succeeds-in/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [The Caribbean calls upon the enslaving governments of Europe and their national institutions, all enriched and empowered by their crimes against humanity, to return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-beckles/the-caribbean-calls-upon-the-enslaving-governments-of-europe-and/) [Hilary Beckles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-beckles/) > [ When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British parliament was advised by an artful man \[Sir William Keith\], who… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/when-the-resolution-of-enslaving-america-was-formed-in-great-britain/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [We have to show these men and women freedom by enslaving them, and show them courage by frightening them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-have-to-show-these-men-and-women-freedom-by-enslaving-them-and/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Reverend John Allen of Massachusetts took up the cry: Blush ye pretended votaries for freedom! ye trifling patriots!… for while you are fasting, praying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-brogan/reverend-john-allen-of-massachusetts-took-up-the-cry-blush-ye/) [Hugh Brogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-brogan/) > [Slavery is a wrong to each individual enslaved; and not merely to the first of a series. Natural law, therefore, as much forbids the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/slavery-is-a-wrong-to-each-individual-enslaved-and-not-merely-to-the/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > ['The Handmaid's Tale' is not a book or show advocating enslaving women or creating a theocracy. It's not glorifying that. It's talking about what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laeta-kalogridis/the-handmaid-s-tale-is-not-a-book-or-show-advocating-enslaving-women/) [Laeta Kalogridis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laeta-kalogridis/) ## 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 Consumerism quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [if we center our lives on BMWs, RVs, VCRs, PCs and the other acronyms of consumerism, we cannot expect our children to do otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnetta-b-cole/if-we-center-our-lives-on-bmws-rvs-vcrs-pcs-and-the-other-acronyms-of/) [Johnnetta B. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnetta-b-cole/) > [“Salesmanship is usually the art of making it the prospect’s problem, the salesperson’s need or desire to earn money.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/salesmanship-is-usually-the-art-of-making-it-the-prospect-s-problem/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [A lot of times, my work is looked at very much on the surface. It's very easy to just want to put something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-koons/a-lot-of-times-my-work-is-looked-at-very-much-on-the-surface-it-s/) [Jeff Koons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-koons/) > [I think that consumerism is intrinsically a pretty flawed social system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-elkington/i-think-that-consumerism-is-intrinsically-a-pretty-flawed-social/) [John Elkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-elkington/) > [America always put forth this phony melting pot theory, but it's a reality now. They couldn't accomplish the melting pot economically; they couldn't accomplish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-means/america-always-put-forth-this-phony-melting-pot-theory-but-it-s-a/) [Russell Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-means/) > [“Fifty years ago, people went without clothes in order to eat. Today, people gladly go without food in order to buy clothes. And they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-dumontais/fifty-years-ago-people-went-without-clothes-in-order-to-eat-today/) Sinclair Dumontais > [Consumer wants can have bizarre, frivolous, or even immoral origins, and an admirable case can still be made for a society that seeks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/consumer-wants-can-have-bizarre-frivolous-or-even-immoral-origins-and/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“In my view, dissatisfaction is implicit in the fabric of consumerism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-bruno/in-my-view-dissatisfaction-is-implicit-in-the-fabric-of-consumerism/) [Dave Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-bruno/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Logograms pose a more difficult question. An increasing number of persons and institutions, from archy and mehitabel to PostScript and TrueType, come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/logograms-pose-a-more-difficult-question-an-increasing-number-of/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [One of the problems with industrialism is that it's based on the premise of more and more. It has to keep expanding to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dora-russell/one-of-the-problems-with-industrialism-is-that-it-s-based-on-the/) [Dora Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dora-russell/) > [Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/never-buy-what-you-do-not-want-because-it-is-cheap-it-will-be-dear-to/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The pharma pricing system was not built on the idea of consumer engagement. It was built... on market efficiencies. It was not built on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-bresch/the-pharma-pricing-system-was-not-built-on-the-idea-of-consumer/) [Heather Bresch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-bresch/) > [“We consumer and become exactly what we create. In all times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/we-consumer-and-become-exactly-what-we-create-in-all-times/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) [Browse all 628 Consumerism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumerism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The first enslaving illusion is the idea that people are born to be consumers and that they can attain any of their goals by purchasing goods and services…What people do or make but will not or cannot put up for sale is as immeasurable and as invaluable for the economy as the oxygen they breathe.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ivan Illich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea-that-people-are-born-to-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consumerism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea-that-people-are-born-to-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/ivan-illich-3546_consumerism_the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea_780193.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/ivan-illich-3546_consumerism_the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea_780193.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/ivan-illich-3546_consumerism_the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea_780193.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The first enslaving illusion is the idea that people are born to be consumers and that they can attain any…” — 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": "“The first enslaving illusion is the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea-that-people-are-born-to-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-first-enslaving-illusion-is-the-idea-that-people-are-born-to-be/#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 } } ] } ```