--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The pupil's imagination is 'schooled' to…" description: "\"The pupil's imagination is 'schooled' to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improveme..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/772/ivan-illich-3546_accepting_the-pupil-s-imagination-is-schooled-to-a_2738465.png" --- # The pupil's imagination is 'schooled' to accept service in… ![“The pupil's imagination is 'schooled' to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improvement of community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national security, the rat race for productive work.” quote by Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/772/ivan-illich-3546_accepting_the-pupil-s-imagination-is-schooled-to-a_2738465.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/772/ivan-illich-3546_accepting_the-pupil-s-imagination-is-schooled-to-a_2738465.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/772/ivan-illich-3546_accepting_the-pupil-s-imagination-is-schooled-to-a_2738465.png) > “The pupil's imagination is 'schooled' to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improvement of community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national security, the rat race for productive work.” [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. Society trains us to accept services as values, distorting true worth. **In simple terms:** We accept services instead of true value. Key Takeaway Question the true value of services. Themes society value education Mood critical analytical Type sociological philosophical When to use this quote - healthcare - social work - law enforcement - military - workplace Key Concepts critical theory social critique Questions to Reflect On - What services have you accepted without question? - How can we restore true value? A Different Perspective May overlook benefits of organized services. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Cybersecurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cybersecurity/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Health care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health-care/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagination Schooled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination-schooled-3009694/) [Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvement/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Medical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medical/) [Medical treatment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medical-treatment/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Military](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military/) [Mistaken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistaken/) [National security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/national-security/) [Poise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poise/) [Police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/police/) [Police protection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/police-protection/) [Productive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productive/) [Productive work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productive-work/) [Protection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protection/) [Pupil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pupil/) [Pupil Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pupil-imagination-3009693/) [Pupils](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pupils/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Rat race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rat-race/) [Rats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rats/) [Safety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safety/) [Schooled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schooled/) [Security](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/security/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-work/) [Treatment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treatment/) [Treatment Mistaken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treatment-mistaken-3009695/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [Assuming that a tax increase is necessary, it is clearly preferable to impose the additional cost on land by increasing the land tax, rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/assuming-that-a-tax-increase-is-necessary-it-is-clearly-preferable-to/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) > [“Logan, you Cavanaughs are like one-stop shopping. Police protection, legal counsel, dinner and last rites—it’s all taken care of in one neat little package.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-ferrarella/logan-you-cavanaughs-are-like-one-stop-shopping-police-protection/) [Marie Ferrarella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-ferrarella/) > [The Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/the-constitution-be-never-construed-to-authorize-congress-to-infringe/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-lee/to-preserve-liberty-it-is-essential-that-the-whole-body-of-people/) [Richard Henry Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-lee/) > [“My advice to someone like you is to always stay close to the gray area and keep yourself and your family safe. Stay away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imbolo-mbue/my-advice-to-someone-like-you-is-to-always-stay-close-to-the-gray/) [Imbolo Mbue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imbolo-mbue/) > [All of the services commonly thought to require the State-from the coining of money to police protection to the development of law in defense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/all-of-the-services-commonly-thought-to-require-the-state-from-the/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [we'll have to reclaim the ward 'taxes.' Why has it become a synonym for 'evil'? I understand that no one likes to pay good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/we-ll-have-to-reclaim-the-ward-taxes-why-has-it-become-a-synonym-for/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [Gun laws are an attempt to nationalize the right of self-defense. Politicians perennially react to the police's abject failure to prevent crime by trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bovard/gun-laws-are-an-attempt-to-nationalize-the-right-of-self-defense/) [James Bovard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bovard/) > [“If I have to take police protection in my own country from my own people, then there is something wrong with me, I'm fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-dabholkar/if-i-have-to-take-police-protection-in-my-own-country-from-my-own/) [Narendra Dabholkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-dabholkar/) > [That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/that-the-said-constitution-shall-never-be-construed-to-authorize/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/to-disarm-the-people-was-the-best-and-most-effectual-way-to-enslave/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/laws-that-forbid-the-carrying-of-arms-disarm-only-those-who-are-2/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [People don't seem to make the connection between their tax money and the benefits that they get from their tax money, like free education,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-schur/people-don-t-seem-to-make-the-connection-between-their-tax-money-and/) [Michael Schur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-schur/) ## 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 Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [As my films are born at the moment when they are reflected into another person's mind and memories, there are no misconceptions. I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) [Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The pupil's imagination is 'schooled' to accept service in place of value. 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