Henri Lefebvre Quotes
Henri Lefebvre was a French Marxist philosopher and sociologist whose work shaped the critical theory of everyday life and the philosophy of urban space. A long-time member of the French Communist Party until his expulsion in 1958, he produced the three-volume Critique of Everyday Life, in which he argued that the alienation diagnosed by Marx persists in the rhythms and routines of modern life. The quotes below are attributed to Henri Lefebvre, organized by topic.
Browse Henri Lefebvre by topic
Henri Lefebvre on Freedom
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Attributed to Henri Lefebvre:
“The right to the city is the right to remake ourselves and our city.”
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“The 'meaning' of life is not to be found in anything other than that life itself. It is within it, and there is nothing beyond that. 'Meaning' cannot spill over from being; it is the direction, the movement of being, and nothing more. The 'meaning' of a proletarian's life is to be found in that life itself: in its despair, or conversely in its movement towards freedom , if the proletarian participates in the life of the proletariat, and if that life involves continuous, day-to-day action (trade-union, political...).”
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Henri Lefebvre on Knowledge
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“Henri Lefebvre (1970/2003) The Urban Revolution p. 110.”
Socialism, when it attempts to predict or imagine the future (which Marx refused to do, since he conceived of a path, not a model), provides us merely with an improved form of labor (salaries and material conditions on the job). -
“Just as economic pressure from the base … is able to modify the production of surplus value, so pressure grounded in spatial practice is alone capable of modifying the apportionment of that surplus value — i.e. the distribution of the portion of social surplus production allotted to society's collective 'interests', to so-called social services. Such grass-roots pressure, if it is to be effective ”
Henri Lefebvre (1974) The Production of Space . Translated to English in 1991 by Donald Nicholson-Smith; As cited in: "Henri Lefebvre on Governance and Space" on thepolisblog.org 2012.10 -
“Pressure from below must therefore also confront the state in its role as organiser of space, as the power that controls urbanization, the construction of buildings and spatial planning in general. The state defends class interests while simultaneously setting itself above society as a whole, and its ability to intervene in space can and must be turned back against it, by grass-roots opposition, i”
Henri Lefebvre (1974) The Production of Space . Translated to English in 1991 by Donald Nicholson-Smith; cited in: "Henri Lefebvre on Governance and Space" on thepolisblog.org 2012.10
Henri Lefebvre on Life
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Attributed to Henri Lefebvre:
“Everyday life is the supreme court where wisdom, knowledge and power are brought to judgment.”
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Attributed to Henri Lefebvre:
“The most extraordinary things are also the most everyday.”
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“The most remarkable aspect of the transition we are living through is not so much the passage from want to affluence as the passage from labour to leisure”
Henri Lefèbvre (2000) Everyday Life in the Modern World Second Revised Edition. p. 52 -
“Henri Lefèbvre (2000) Everyday Life in the Modern World Second Revised Edition. p. 52”
The most remarkable aspect of the transition we are living through is not so much the passage from want to affluence as the passage from labour to leisure
Henri Lefebvre on Politics
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Attributed to Henri Lefebvre:
“Space is a social product.”
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“Change life! Change society!”
Henri Lefebvre (1991; original French edition, 1974), as quoted in Fainstein The City Builders (2001), p. 272 -
“Pressure from below must therefore also confront the state in its role as organiser of space, as the power that controls urbanization, the construction of buildings and spatial planning in general. The state defends class interests while simultaneously setting itself above society as a whole, and its ability to intervene in space can and must be turned back against it, by grass-roots opposition, in the form of counter-plans and counter-projects designed to thwart strategies, plans and programmes imposed from above.”
Henri Lefebvre (1974) The Production of Space . Translated to English in 1991 by Donald Nicholson-Smith; cited in: "Henri Lefebvre on Governance and Space" on thepolisblog.org 2012.10 -
“Change life! 'Change society!' These precepts mean nothing without the production of an appropriate space . … new social relationships call for a new space, and vice versa.”
Henri Lefebvre (1991; original French edition, 1974), as quoted in Fainstein The City Builders (2001), p. 272
Henri Lefebvre on Time
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“Socialism, when it attempts to predict or imagine the future (which Marx refused to do, since he conceived of a path, not a model), provides us merely with an improved form of labor (salaries and material conditions on the job).”
Henri Lefebvre (1970/2003) The Urban Revolution p. 110. | Variant: Marx... conceived of a path, not a model. As cited in: "Anti-Capitalist Meet Up: Henri Lefebvre looks out into space" at dailykos.com, 2012.04.29