---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It doesn’t really matter if I am a…"
description: "\"“ It doesn’t really matter if I am a prisoner of your will so long as I am not a prisoner of mine.\" christopher dutton”\" — Christopher Dutton"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/christopher-dutton-41346_prisoner_it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-priso_2783282.jpg"
---

#  It doesn’t really matter if I am a prisoner of your will…

![“It doesn’t really matter if I am a prisoner of your will so long as I am not a prisoner of mine." christopher dutton” quote by Christopher Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/christopher-dutton-41346_prisoner_it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-priso_2783282.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/christopher-dutton-41346_prisoner_it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-priso_2783282.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/christopher-dutton-41346_prisoner_it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-priso_2783282.jpg)

> ““ It doesn’t really matter if I am a prisoner of your will so long as I am not a prisoner of mine." christopher dutton””

[Christopher Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Being a prisoner of another’s will is acceptable if you are not imprisoned by your own desires.

**In simple terms:** Not self‑prisoned is key.

Key Takeaway

Avoid self‑imposed constraints.

Themes

freedom will self‑control

Mood

reflective determined

Type

philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- relationships
- personal development

Key Concepts

autonomy personal responsibility

Questions to Reflect On

- What desires trap you?
- How can you reclaim autonomy?

A Different Perspective

External control can still limit freedom.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Prisoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoner/)

## Related quotes

> [“Pride had held me prisoner for too long,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/pride-had-held-me-prisoner-for-too-long/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [If you're working on better conditions for prisoners, if you make that a popular issue and you invite mainstream media to weigh in on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/if-you-re-working-on-better-conditions-for-prisoners-if-you-make-that/)

[Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/)

> [Phaedra of Alonso’s death was a never-ending pain that gnawed at his insides. It made him a prisoner in his own cottage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/phaedra-of-alonso-s-death-was-a-never-ending-pain-that-gnawed-at-his/)

[Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/)

> [“A prisoner is imprisoned by the crime that he has committed. A jailer is imprisoned — in the very same prison — by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-prisoner-is-imprisoned-by-the-crime-that-he-has-committed-a-jailer/)

[Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/)

> [I want to confess as best I can, but my heart is void. The void is a mirror. I see my face and feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingmar-bergman/i-want-to-confess-as-best-i-can-but-my-heart-is-void-the-void-is-a/)

[Ingmar Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingmar-bergman/)

> [Arrival = Prison, and the artist must never be a prisoner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/arrival-prison-and-the-artist-must-never-be-a-prisoner/)

[Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/)

> [Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/karma-is-often-wrongly-confused-with-the-notion-of-a-fixed-destiny-it/)

[Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/)

> [In the innermost recesses of humanism, as its very soul, there rages a frantic prisoner who, as a Fascist, turns the world into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-innermost-recesses-of-humanism-as-its-very-soul-there-rages-a/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Our sins are debts that none can pay but Christ. It is not our tears, but His blood; it is not our sighs, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-brooks/our-sins-are-debts-that-none-can-pay-but-christ-it-is-not-our-tears/)

[Thomas Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-brooks/)

> [“If you know only one language, you're a prisoner, stuck in the tyranny of that one language.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-cohen/if-you-know-only-one-language-you-re-a-prisoner-stuck-in-the-tyranny/)

[Andrew Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-cohen/)

> [American soldiers had to guard prisoners on the inside while receiving mortar and weapons fire from the outside. Guantanamo is distant from any battlefield,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-yoo/american-soldiers-had-to-guard-prisoners-on-the-inside-while/)

[John Yoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-yoo/)

> [Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realizing you were the prisoner!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/forgiveness-is-unlocking-the-door-to-set-someone-free-and-realizing/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Tonight I feel like a prisoner on fire, waiting desperately... denied, sentenced forever more. Only your love can set me free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bolton/tonight-i-feel-like-a-prisoner-on-fire-waiting-desperately-denied/)

[Michael Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bolton/)

> [I will be a model prisoner, as I have been a model citizen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-edwards/i-will-be-a-model-prisoner-as-i-have-been-a-model-citizen/)

[Edwin Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-edwards/)

> [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

## More by Christopher Dutton

> [“Time and suffering are inseperable. In life, as in physics, both are the common denominator of all experiences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/time-and-suffering-are-inseperable-in-life-as-in-physics-both-are-the/)

[Christopher Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

> [“Wealth is neither an ends nor a means, it is a symptom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/wealth-is-neither-an-ends-nor-a-means-it-is-a-symptom/)

[Christopher Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

> [“Seek ye always...but heed this.. There is no truth, there is only distance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/seek-ye-always-but-heed-this-there-is-no-truth-there-is-only-distance/)

[Christopher Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

> [“War pacifies itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/war-pacifies-itself/)

[Christopher Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

> [“If one is searching for the cause of brutality in mankind, it would do well to remember that civilization is a great and vast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/if-one-is-searching-for-the-cause-of-brutality-in-mankind-it-would-do/)

[Christopher Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

> [“Even in love we suffer, because in that very moment of love, Time, the insatiable Devourer, is destroying what we love...or ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/even-in-love-we-suffer-because-in-that-very-moment-of-love-time-the/)

[Christopher Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

> [“Attacking genius and passion as immoral , the ? cries "how dare they?" and answers with its own question...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/attacking-genius-and-passion-as-immoral-the-cries-how-dare-they-and/)

[christopher dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

> [“Courage is never selfless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/courage-is-never-selfless/)

[christopher dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

> [“Where two or more are gathered in the name of Man; that is civilization; that is Order; and that is the beginnings of brutality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/where-two-or-more-are-gathered-in-the-name-of-man-that-is/)

[Christopher Dutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

[Explore all 10 Christopher Dutton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/)

## More Prisoner quotes

> [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [I will be a model prisoner, as I have been a model citizen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-edwards/i-will-be-a-model-prisoner-as-i-have-been-a-model-citizen/)

[Edwin Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-edwards/)

> [Tonight I feel like a prisoner on fire, waiting desperately... denied, sentenced forever more. Only your love can set me free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bolton/tonight-i-feel-like-a-prisoner-on-fire-waiting-desperately-denied/)

[Michael Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bolton/)

> [Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realizing you were the prisoner!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/forgiveness-is-unlocking-the-door-to-set-someone-free-and-realizing/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [American soldiers had to guard prisoners on the inside while receiving mortar and weapons fire from the outside. Guantanamo is distant from any battlefield,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-yoo/american-soldiers-had-to-guard-prisoners-on-the-inside-while/)

[John Yoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-yoo/)

> [“If you know only one language, you're a prisoner, stuck in the tyranny of that one language.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-cohen/if-you-know-only-one-language-you-re-a-prisoner-stuck-in-the-tyranny/)

[Andrew Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-cohen/)

> [Our sins are debts that none can pay but Christ. It is not our tears, but His blood; it is not our sighs, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-brooks/our-sins-are-debts-that-none-can-pay-but-christ-it-is-not-our-tears/)

[Thomas Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-brooks/)

> [In the innermost recesses of humanism, as its very soul, there rages a frantic prisoner who, as a Fascist, turns the world into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-innermost-recesses-of-humanism-as-its-very-soul-there-rages-a/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/karma-is-often-wrongly-confused-with-the-notion-of-a-fixed-destiny-it/)

[Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/)

> [Arrival = Prison, and the artist must never be a prisoner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/arrival-prison-and-the-artist-must-never-be-a-prisoner/)

[Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/)

> [I want to confess as best I can, but my heart is void. The void is a mirror. I see my face and feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingmar-bergman/i-want-to-confess-as-best-i-can-but-my-heart-is-void-the-void-is-a/)

[Ingmar Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingmar-bergman/)

> [“A prisoner is imprisoned by the crime that he has committed. A jailer is imprisoned — in the very same prison — by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-prisoner-is-imprisoned-by-the-crime-that-he-has-committed-a-jailer/)

[Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/)

> [Phaedra of Alonso’s death was a never-ending pain that gnawed at his insides. It made him a prisoner in his own cottage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/phaedra-of-alonso-s-death-was-a-never-ending-pain-that-gnawed-at-his/)

[Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/)

> [If you're working on better conditions for prisoners, if you make that a popular issue and you invite mainstream media to weigh in on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/if-you-re-working-on-better-conditions-for-prisoners-if-you-make-that/)

[Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/)

> [Should you encounter the enemy, he will be defeated! No quarter will be given! Prisoners will not be taken! Whoever falls into your hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-ii/should-you-encounter-the-enemy-he-will-be-defeated-no-quarter-will-be/)

[Wilhelm II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-ii/)

[Browse all 960 Prisoner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoner/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“ It doesn’t really matter if I am a prisoner of your will so long as I am not a prisoner of mine.\" christopher dutton”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Christopher Dutton"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-prisoner-of-your-will-so-long-as-i/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Prisoner"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-prisoner-of-your-will-so-long-as-i/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/christopher-dutton-41346_prisoner_it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-priso_2783282.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/christopher-dutton-41346_prisoner_it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-priso_2783282.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9b/christopher-dutton-41346_prisoner_it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-priso_2783282.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“It doesn’t really matter if I am a prisoner of your will so long as I am not a prisoner of mine.\"…” — Christopher Dutton",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Christopher Dutton",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dutton/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“ It doesn’t really matter if...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-prisoner-of-your-will-so-long-as-i/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dutton/it-doesn-t-really-matter-if-i-am-a-prisoner-of-your-will-so-long-as-i/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```