--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The suffering of being imprisoned rests…" description: "\"“The suffering of being imprisoned rests in the fact that it is impossible, at any time, to escape from oneself.”\" — Kōbō Abe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/996/kobo-abe-9863_imprisoned_the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests_663552.jpg" --- # The suffering of being imprisoned rests in the fact that… ![“The suffering of being imprisoned rests in the fact that it is impossible, at any time, to escape from oneself.” quote by Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/996/kobo-abe-9863_imprisoned_the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests_663552.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/996/kobo-abe-9863_imprisoned_the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests_663552.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/996/kobo-abe-9863_imprisoned_the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests_663552.jpg) > ““The suffering of being imprisoned rests in the fact that it is impossible, at any time, to escape from oneself.”” [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Imprisonment is internal; one cannot escape one's own mind and self. **In simple terms:** You cannot escape yourself. Key Takeaway Practice self‑awareness. Themes self imprisonment mindfulness Mood introspective calm Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - meditation - therapy - personal growth Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront your inner self? - What practices aid self‑knowledge? A Different Perspective Self‑escape may be impossible but can be understood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“To talk about another, pleasantly or viciously, is an escape from oneself, and escape is the cause of restlessness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/to-talk-about-another-pleasantly-or-viciously-is-an-escape-from/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“Violence is born of the desire to escape oneself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/violence-is-born-of-the-desire-to-escape-oneself/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“Hardly even does one think of oneself, but only how to escape from oneself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/hardly-even-does-one-think-of-oneself-but-only-how-to-escape-from/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Sometimes it is painful to be oneself; at other times it seems impossible to escape oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franco/sometimes-it-is-painful-to-be-oneself-at-other-times-it-seems/) [James Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franco/) > [I believe one has to escape oneself to discover oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/i-believe-one-has-to-escape-oneself-to-discover-oneself/) [Rabih Alameddine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-alameddine/) > [Dissidents are not imprisoned as in the domains of the Kremlin, in the old days. They do not have their brains blown out by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/dissidents-are-not-imprisoned-as-in-the-domains-of-the-kremlin-in-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“The servants of a queen, even a queen under arrest, were not usually supposed to be physically higher than she was. Did the women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-clark/the-servants-of-a-queen-even-a-queen-under-arrest-were-not-usually/) Nicola Clark > [“at Florence which included diplomatic missions to various European courts. Imprisoned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/at-florence-which-included-diplomatic-missions-to-various-european/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [“I can confidently state that the greatest rescues in my life have occurred when I’ve been saved from myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/i-can-confidently-state-that-the-greatest-rescues-in-my-life-have/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“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/) > [Ibn Taymiyyah lived poorly. He was imprisoned and threatened. But I have never seen anyone as happy as him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/ibn-taymiyyah-lived-poorly-he-was-imprisoned-and-threatened-but-i/) [Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/) > [Through my work with PETA, I have learned a great deal about chimpanzee behavior and the plight of chimpanzees imprisoned in laboratories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/through-my-work-with-peta-i-have-learned-a-great-deal-about/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [She seemed imprisoned in her sadness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sena-jeter-naslund/she-seemed-imprisoned-in-her-sadness/) [Sena Jeter Naslund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sena-jeter-naslund/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Kōbō Abe > [“People like me who lack something are liable to become spiteful critics.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/people-like-me-who-lack-something-are-liable-to-become-spiteful/) [Kobo Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“I rather think the world is like sand. The fundamental nature of sand is very difficult to grasp when you think of it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/i-rather-think-the-world-is-like-sand-the-fundamental-nature-of-sand/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“Injuries to the body, especially the face, are not treated simply as problems of form. We should rather speak of themas belonging in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/injuries-to-the-body-especially-the-face-are-not-treated-simply-as/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“What we mean when we say "terrible conditions" is conditions which we are aware of as being terrible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/what-we-mean-when-we-say-terrible-conditions-is-conditions-which-we/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“He wanted to believe that his own lack of movement had stopped all movement in the world, the way a hibernating frog abolishes winter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/he-wanted-to-believe-that-his-own-lack-of-movement-had-stopped-all/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“One could not do without repetition in life, like the beating of the heart, but it was also true that the beating of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/one-could-not-do-without-repetition-in-life-like-the-beating-of-the/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“It is manifestly pregnant and has a bulging white belly heavy with its load of kittens.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/it-is-manifestly-pregnant-and-has-a-bulging-white-belly-heavy-with/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [Many people ask why a writer commits suicide. But I think that people who ask don't know the vanity and the nothingness of writing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/many-people-ask-why-a-writer-commits-suicide-but-i-think-that-people/) [Kobo Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [Defeat begins with the fear that one has lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/defeat-begins-with-the-fear-that-one-has-lost/) [Kobo Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“Being free always involves being lonely.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/being-free-always-involves-being-lonely/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“Everyone has his own philosophy that doesn't hold good for anybody else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/everyone-has-his-own-philosophy-that-doesn-t-hold-good-for-anybody/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“It would seem that marsupials are poor imitations of full-fledged mammals. Their inadequacy gives them a certain appeal; we’re touched by it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/it-would-seem-that-marsupials-are-poor-imitations-of-full-fledged/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [When I was young, I could bounce back from things like a brand-new rubber ball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/when-i-was-young-i-could-bounce-back-from-things-like-a-brand-new/) [Kobo Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [“If there were no risk of a punishment, a getaway would lose the pleasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/if-there-were-no-risk-of-a-punishment-a-getaway-would-lose-the/) [Kōbō Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) > [Nature with her wealth of birds and flowers, Has in her heart a place for every weed; For her quick eyes require no microscope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/nature-with-her-wealth-of-birds-and-flowers-has-in-her-heart-a-place/) [Kobo Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) [Explore all 67 Kōbō Abe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/) ## More Imprisoned quotes > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [She seemed imprisoned in her sadness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sena-jeter-naslund/she-seemed-imprisoned-in-her-sadness/) [Sena Jeter Naslund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sena-jeter-naslund/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Through my work with PETA, I have learned a great deal about chimpanzee behavior and the plight of chimpanzees imprisoned in laboratories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/through-my-work-with-peta-i-have-learned-a-great-deal-about/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [Ibn Taymiyyah lived poorly. He was imprisoned and threatened. But I have never seen anyone as happy as him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/ibn-taymiyyah-lived-poorly-he-was-imprisoned-and-threatened-but-i/) [Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/) > [“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 can confidently state that the greatest rescues in my life have occurred when I’ve been saved from myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/i-can-confidently-state-that-the-greatest-rescues-in-my-life-have/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“at Florence which included diplomatic missions to various European courts. Imprisoned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/at-florence-which-included-diplomatic-missions-to-various-european/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [“The servants of a queen, even a queen under arrest, were not usually supposed to be physically higher than she was. Did the women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-clark/the-servants-of-a-queen-even-a-queen-under-arrest-were-not-usually/) Nicola Clark > [Dissidents are not imprisoned as in the domains of the Kremlin, in the old days. They do not have their brains blown out by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/dissidents-are-not-imprisoned-as-in-the-domains-of-the-kremlin-in-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“The price for freedom may be high, but the price that we pay for being imprisoned and cut off from the very root of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-afua/the-price-for-freedom-may-be-high-but-the-price-that-we-pay-for-being/) Queen Afua > [“But it is impossible to go through life without trust; that is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-it-is-impossible-to-go-through-life-without-trust-that-is-to-be/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Who imprisoned me here? Who keeps me here? Who can release me? Who's controlling and constraining my life except...me?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/who-imprisoned-me-here-who-keeps-me-here-who-can-release-me-who-s/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“He imprisoned the rest of her body by the simple expediency of lying down on top of her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thea-harrison/he-imprisoned-the-rest-of-her-body-by-the-simple-expediency-of-lying/) [Thea Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thea-harrison/) > [Open your newspaper - any day of the week - and you will find a report from somewhere in the world of someone being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benenson/open-your-newspaper-any-day-of-the-week-and-you-will-find-a-report/) [Peter Benenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benenson/) Browse all 184 Imprisoned quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The suffering of being imprisoned rests in the fact that it is impossible, at any time, to escape from oneself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kōbō Abe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests-in-the-fact-that-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imprisoned" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests-in-the-fact-that-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/996/kobo-abe-9863_imprisoned_the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests_663552.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/996/kobo-abe-9863_imprisoned_the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests_663552.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/996/kobo-abe-9863_imprisoned_the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests_663552.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The suffering of being imprisoned rests in the fact that it is impossible, at any time, to escape from…” — Kōbō Abe", "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": "Kōbō Abe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kobo-abe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The suffering of being imprisoned rests...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests-in-the-fact-that-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kobo-abe/the-suffering-of-being-imprisoned-rests-in-the-fact-that-it-is/#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 } } ] } ```