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The judgment that human life is worth living, or rather can and ought to be made worth living, … underlies all intellectual effort; it is the a priori of social theory, and its rejection (which is perfectly logical) rejects theory itself.

— Herbert Marcuse One-Dimensional Man (1964)

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More quotes by Herbert Marcuse

Liberating tolerance, then, would mean intolerance against movements from the Right, and toleration of movements from the Left.

An Essay on Liberation (1969)

The present stage redefines the possibilities of man and nature in accordance with the new means available for their realization.

One-Dimensional Man (1964)

The avant-garde and the beatniks share in the function of entertaining without endangering the good conscience of the men of good will.

One-Dimensional Man (1964)

The happy consciousness is shaky enough—a thin surface over fear, frustration, and disgust.

One-Dimensional Man (1964)

The apparatus defeats its own purpose if its purpose is to create a humane existence on the basis of a humanized nature.

One-Dimensional Man (1964)

All Herbert Marcuse quotes →

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Herbert Marcuse (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.