--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The world is a prison in which solitary…" description: "\"The world is a prison in which solitary confinement is preferable.\" — Karl Kraus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/karl-kraus-1128_confinement_the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary_1387962.png" --- # The world is a prison in which solitary confinement is… ![“The world is a prison in which solitary confinement is preferable.” quote by Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/karl-kraus-1128_confinement_the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary_1387962.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/karl-kraus-1128_confinement_the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary_1387962.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/karl-kraus-1128_confinement_the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary_1387962.png) > “The world is a prison in which solitary confinement is preferable.” [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life feels confining, and isolation sometimes seems preferable to societal constraints. **In simple terms:** Life feels like a prison. Key Takeaway Consider ways to find freedom within constraints. Themes existential freedom solitude Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - urban living - remote work - mental health - political oppression - prison reform Key Concepts philosophy psychology social critique Questions to Reflect On - What constraints feel imprisoning you? - Is solitude truly better? A Different Perspective Isolation can exacerbate mental health issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confinement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confinement/) [Confinement Preferable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confinement-preferable-4828284/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Prison Solitary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison-solitary-1633633/) [Solitary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitary/) [Solitary confinement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitary-confinement/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-prison-984807/) ## Related quotes > [People aren't wired to be alone. Even in the stressful population of prison, solitary confinement is still considered a cruel punishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/people-aren-t-wired-to-be-alone-even-in-the-stressful-population-of/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [“They got it wrong when they called it “the closet." This was a prison. Solitary confinement. I was locked inside, inside myself, dark and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-anne-peters/they-got-it-wrong-when-they-called-it-the-closet-this-was-a-prison/) [Julie Anne Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-anne-peters/) > [Something in our nature cries out to be loved by another. Isolation is devastating to the human psyche. That is why solitary confinement is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/something-in-our-nature-cries-out-to-be-loved-by-another-isolation-is/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [He could have had his choice of any woman in the district. And he chose solitude. Not solitude – that sounds too peaceful. More…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/he-could-have-had-his-choice-of-any-woman-in-the-district-and-he/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“We are relational creatures. All humans live in community and most people seek social interaction. In western culture, isolation is seen as one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/we-are-relational-creatures-all-humans-live-in-community-and-most/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [How many persons condemned to the horrors of solitary confinement have gone mad - simply because the thinking faculties have lain dormant!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/how-many-persons-condemned-to-the-horrors-of-solitary-confinement/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [I would like to start a discussion about ending solitary confinement. I'd like to start a discussion about the removal of MO wings -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-mcmillan/i-would-like-to-start-a-discussion-about-ending-solitary-confinement/) [Cecily McMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-mcmillan/) > [There is about as much educational benefit to be gained in studying dolphins in captivity as there would be studying mankind by only observing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-yves-cousteau/there-is-about-as-much-educational-benefit-to-be-gained-in-studying/) [Jacques Yves Cousteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-yves-cousteau/) > [ “\[Solitary confinement\] is terrible. That is terrible. You're in a grave. You can't do anything. Everything's brought to you and you're in a room… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-sweeney/solitary-confinement-is-terrible-that-is-terrible-you-re-in-a-grave/) [Megan Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-sweeney/) > [We are all sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/we-are-all-sentenced-to-solitary-confinement-inside-our-own-skins-for/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [I found solitary confinement the most forbidding aspect of prison life. There is no end and no beginning; there is only one's mind, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/i-found-solitary-confinement-the-most-forbidding-aspect-of-prison/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [If you ever meet someone who cannot understand why solitary confinement is considered punishment, you have met a misanthrope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-king/if-you-ever-meet-someone-who-cannot-understand-why-solitary/) [Florence King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-king/) > [As we have seen, WikiLeaks is a robust organization. During my time in solitary confinement in the basement of a Victorian prison, we continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/as-we-have-seen-wikileaks-is-a-robust-organization-during-my-time-in/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Each man is his own prisoner, in solitary confinement for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/each-man-is-his-own-prisoner-in-solitary-confinement-for-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Silence comes in two varieties: One that nourishes and comforts; another that chokes, smothers, and isolates. Solitary confinement is the worst kind of imprisonment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/silence-comes-in-two-varieties-one-that-nourishes-and-comforts/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) ## More by Karl Kraus > [You'd be surprised how hard it can often be to translate an action into an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/you-d-be-surprised-how-hard-it-can-often-be-to-translate-an-action/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I don't like to meddle in my private affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-don-t-like-to-meddle-in-my-private-affairs/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [A historian is not always a prophet facing backwards, but a journalist is always someone who afterwards knew everything beforehand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/a-historian-is-not-always-a-prophet-facing-backwards-but-a-journalist/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [When a man is treated like a beast, he says, 'After all, I'm human.' When he behaves like a beast, he says 'After all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/when-a-man-is-treated-like-a-beast-he-says-after-all-i-m-human-when/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [They judge lest they be judged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/they-judge-lest-they-be-judged/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I and my public understand each other very well: it does not hear what I say, and I don't say what it wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-and-my-public-understand-each-other-very-well-it-does-not-hear-what/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Satire that the censor understands is rightly censored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/satire-that-the-censor-understands-is-rightly-censored/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Hate must make a man productive. Otherwise one might as well love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/hate-must-make-a-man-productive-otherwise-one-might-as-well-love/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [One must read all writers twice--the good as well as the bad. The one kind will be recognized; the other, unmasked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/one-must-read-all-writers-twice-the-good-as-well-as-the-bad-the-one/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Children today laugh at fathers who tell them about dragons. It is necessary to make fear a required subject; otherwise children will never learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/children-today-laugh-at-fathers-who-tell-them-about-dragons-it-is/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [The little stations are very proud because the expresses have to pass them by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-little-stations-are-very-proud-because-the-expresses-have-to-pass/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [The unattractive thing about chauvinism is not so much the aversion to other nations as the love of one's own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-unattractive-thing-about-chauvinism-is-not-so-much-the-aversion/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I have often been asked to be fair and view a matter from all sides. I did so, hoping that something might improve if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-have-often-been-asked-to-be-fair-and-view-a-matter-from-all-sides-i/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [In the theater one must sit in such a way that one sees the audience as a dark mass. Then it cannot bother one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/in-the-theater-one-must-sit-in-such-a-way-that-one-sees-the-audience/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Many desire to kill me, and many wish to spend an hour chatting with me. The law protects me from the former.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/many-desire-to-kill-me-and-many-wish-to-spend-an-hour-chatting-with/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) [Explore all 275 Karl Kraus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) ## More Confinement quotes > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [The novel is the dream release, the suspension of reality that history needs to escape its own brutal confinements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-novel-is-the-dream-release-the-suspension-of-reality-that-history/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Something in our nature cries out to be loved by another. Isolation is devastating to the human psyche. That is why solitary confinement is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/something-in-our-nature-cries-out-to-be-loved-by-another-isolation-is/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [The premise of Kiss has always been to not live within the confinements and boundaries other people set for themselves. We set our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-stanley/the-premise-of-kiss-has-always-been-to-not-live-within-the/) [Paul Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-stanley/) > [Each man is his own prisoner, in solitary confinement for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/each-man-is-his-own-prisoner-in-solitary-confinement-for-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [ “The \[human\] animal cannot cope with \[dense confinement\]; indeed, it is programmed to resist it. It must resist it, in the interest of survival.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-livingston-from-rogue-primate-an-investigation-into-human-domestication/the-human-animal-cannot-cope-with-dense-confinement-indeed-it-is/) [John Livingston, from "Rogue Primate: An Investigation Into Human Domestication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-livingston-from-rogue-primate-an-investigation-into-human-domestication/) > [People aren't wired to be alone. Even in the stressful population of prison, solitary confinement is still considered a cruel punishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/people-aren-t-wired-to-be-alone-even-in-the-stressful-population-of/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [The secret to responsible trust is acceptance. Acceptance is taking from God's hand absolutely anything He gives, looking into His face in trust and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/the-secret-to-responsible-trust-is-acceptance-acceptance-is-taking/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [ During this period (of technological confinement / \[and language\]) the human mind has been placed in its narrowest confines it has experienced since consciousness… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/during-this-period-of-technological-confinement-and-language-the/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [As we have seen, WikiLeaks is a robust organization. During my time in solitary confinement in the basement of a Victorian prison, we continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/as-we-have-seen-wikileaks-is-a-robust-organization-during-my-time-in/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Needle and thread flesh and bone Spit and sinew, heartbreak is home. Your suture lines, they sparkle like diamonds Bright stars to light my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/needle-and-thread-flesh-and-bone-spit-and-sinew-heartbreak-is-home/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [If you ever meet someone who cannot understand why solitary confinement is considered punishment, you have met a misanthrope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-king/if-you-ever-meet-someone-who-cannot-understand-why-solitary/) [Florence King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-king/) > [Even painless research is fascism, supremacism, because the act of confinement is traumatizing in itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-newkirk/even-painless-research-is-fascism-supremacism-because-the-act-of/) [Ingrid Newkirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-newkirk/) > [In relating the circumstances which have led to my confinement within this refuge for the demented, I am aware that my present position will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/in-relating-the-circumstances-which-have-led-to-my-confinement-within/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [“...bars can't build better men and misery can only break what goodness remains.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-turton/bars-can-t-build-better-men-and-misery-can-only-break-what-goodness/) [Stuart Turton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-turton/) [Browse all 121 Confinement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confinement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The world is a prison in which solitary confinement is preferable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karl Kraus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary-confinement-is-preferable/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Confinement" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary-confinement-is-preferable/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/karl-kraus-1128_confinement_the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary_1387962.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/karl-kraus-1128_confinement_the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary_1387962.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/karl-kraus-1128_confinement_the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary_1387962.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The world is a prison in which solitary confinement is preferable.” — Karl Kraus", "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": "Karl Kraus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The world is a prison in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary-confinement-is-preferable/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-world-is-a-prison-in-which-solitary-confinement-is-preferable/#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 } } ] } ```