The existing liberties and the existing gratifications are tied to the requirements of repression: they themselves become instruments of repression.

The people recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment.

It is generally admitted that the cultural values (humanization) and the existing institutions and policies of society are rarely,if ever, in harmony. This opinion has found expression in the distinction between culture and civilization, according to which "culture" refers to some higher dimension of human autonomy and fulfillment, while "civilization" designates the realm of necessity, of socially necessary work and behavior, where man is not really himself and in his own element but is subject to heteronomy, to external conditions and needs.

The criterion for free choice can never be an absolute one, but neither is it entirely relative.

This society turns everything it touches into a potential source of progress and exploitation, of drudgery and satisfaction, of freedom and of oppression.

Thought that accepts reality as given is no thought at all.

Art cannot change the world, but it can contribute to changing the consciousness and drives of the men and women who could change the world.