# Are we our own prisons? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388 "2017-04-27T19:14:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/1 "2017-04-27T19:14:51Z")
We’re all our own prisons, we are each all our own wardens and we do our own time. I can’t judge anyone else. What other people do is not really my affair unless they approach me with it. Prison’s in your mind. Can’t you see I’m free? I saw the above and it made me wonder. I know the one who said it was Manson so that might have an impact of the truth of it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/2 "2017-04-27T19:24:15Z")
Manson’s in a real prison. He has a real warden not to mention real guards, concrete walls, and iron bars. Life is only like a prison if you make it so. I’m not my own warden, I don’t have a warden, my time has been imposed by biology and physics. If I restrict myself in any way it’s by choice and not by a court order. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/3 "2017-04-27T19:26:44Z")
You get what everyone else gets. You get a lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/4 "2017-04-27T19:29:55Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I know the one who said it was Manson so that might have an impact of the truth of it. WTF? The fact that _Manson_ said it gives it an “impact of truth”?? Explain. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/5 "2017-04-27T19:34:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > WTF? The fact that _Manson_ said it gives it an “impact of truth”?? > Explain. If anything, I think the OP is saying the opposite. “Charles Manson said it, so you probably just want to disregard it altogether”. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/6 "2017-04-27T19:37:10Z")
No body gets out of here alive. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/7 "2017-04-27T20:37:16Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > No body gets out of here alive. I prefer to believe in my own personal immortality until proven otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/8 "2017-04-27T20:38:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Prison’s in your mind. Can’t you see I’m free? No, I can’t see that at all. I am currently at a job I enjoy, doing something worth doing, and making a more than comfortable living. When I am done for today, I am going to drive to the gym to work out. When I get there, the person behind the desk will smile at me and greet me by name. When I am done, I will go to the house I bought, and there is a beautiful woman there who loves me and who I love, and she will smile at me when I kiss her. Then I will take the dog for a walk, and we will walk wherever we want and I will listen to great literature and smoke a cigar. And then I will go home and sit down by that same woman and have beer and pizza, and watch whatever we want on TV for a while, and then go to bed on clean sheets, in a comfortable room. And that same woman is going to be there. The 60s are gone, Charlie. Don’t spend almost the whole of your life behind bars and expect me to fall for that pseudo-profound rap. Regards, Shodan Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/9 "2017-04-27T20:44:41Z")
It sucks to be human. (This answer can be cut and pasted into every-single-one of the OP’s threads.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/10 "2017-04-27T20:56:40Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > No body gets out of here alive. > [@](#): > > I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don’t want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment. – Woody Allen ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/11 "2017-04-27T20:58:27Z")
> [@Walt Kelly](#): > > Don’t take life so serious, son — it ain’t nohow permanent. [Pogo link](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w6POYFGeadY/UyFC-W937BI/AAAAAAAAAvk/jBbs3brgXzY/s1600/Saga-of-the-Swamp-Thing_vol2_panel2.png). ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/12 "2017-04-27T20:59:33Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, I can’t see that at all. > > I am currently at a job I enjoy, doing something worth doing, and making a more than comfortable living. When I am done for today, I am going to drive to the gym to work out. When I get there, the person behind the desk will smile at me and greet me by name. When I am done, I will go to the house I bought, and there is a beautiful woman there who loves me and who I love, and she will smile at me when I kiss her. Then I will take the dog for a walk, and we will walk wherever we want and I will listen to great literature and smoke a cigar. And then I will go home and sit down by that same woman and have beer and pizza, and watch whatever we want on TV for a while, and then go to bed on clean sheets, in a comfortable room. And that same woman is going to be there. > > The 60s are gone, Charlie. Don’t spend almost the whole of your life behind bars and expect me to fall for that pseudo-profound rap. > > Regards, > Shodan > > Regards, > Shodan I think the terms prison and freedom are largely open to personal interpretation ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/13 "2017-04-27T21:12:39Z")
Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose. - Kris Kristofferson ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/14 "2017-04-27T21:20:16Z")
[Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Althea,_from_Prison) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/15 "2017-04-27T21:31:52Z")
Sorry, but even though my life sucks right now, I have to say that, “We are our own prisons.” sounds just like what you’d expect a real life-without-parole prisoner would say. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/16 "2017-04-27T21:49:13Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > [Stone walls do not a prison make, > Nor iron bars a cage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Althea,_from_Prison) Technically he would be the most imprisoned. If not literally then figuratively. He’s locked into his own view and cannot see what others do. Reading some of what he says, it’s barely coherent and seems like nonsense pretending to be deep. He seems truly crazy, and that’s it’s own prison. Perhaps even believing yourself free is its own prison and ironically the ties that bind are their own freedom. Like I said, largely based on personal opinion. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/17 "2017-04-27T21:58:32Z")
Many people thrive in a literal prison. When released, the re-offend in order to go back to a life that suits their nature. So, figuratively, there are also a lot of people who feel more comfortable in the prison that they have made for themselves. Those who don’t, according to their personal resources and strengths, may find ways to escape from their self-imposed prisons. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/18 "2017-04-27T22:13:48Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Many people thrive in a literal prison. When released, the re-offend in order to go back to a life that suits their nature. > > So, figuratively, there are also a lot of people who feel more comfortable in the prison that they have made for themselves. Those who don’t, according to their personal resources and strengths, may find ways to escape from their self-imposed prisons. Kind of makes you wonder if all the hype about freedom is really all it’s cracked up to be. People have many definitions about freedom, in the end it might just be important to go with what makes you happy. Life’s too short for much else. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/19 "2017-04-27T22:30:55Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I prefer to believe in my own personal immortality until proven otherwise. Well, that’s a bet you can’t lose - 'cause if you lose, who’s gunna make you pay? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388/20 "2017-04-27T23:21:31Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, I can’t see that at all. > > I am currently at a job I enjoy, doing something worth doing, and making a more than comfortable living. When I am done for today, I am going to drive to the gym to work out. When I get there, the person behind the desk will smile at me and greet me by name. When I am done, I will go to the house I bought, and there is a beautiful woman there who loves me and who I love, and she will smile at me when I kiss her. Then I will take the dog for a walk, and we will walk wherever we want and I will listen to great literature and smoke a cigar. And then I will go home and sit down by that same woman and have beer and pizza, and watch whatever we want on TV for a while, and then go to bed on clean sheets, in a comfortable room. And that same woman is going to be there. > > The 60s are gone, Charlie. Don’t spend almost the whole of your life behind bars and expect me to fall for that pseudo-profound rap. > > Regards, > Shodan > > Regards, > Shodan Very good post. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-our-own-prisons/785388.md?page=2)