--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The prisoner is the jailer's jailer." description: "\"“The prisoner is the jailer's jailer.”\" — Ursula K. Le Guin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/ursula-k-le-guin-138_jailer_the-prisoner-is-the-jailer-s-jailer-5172_517289.jpg" --- # The prisoner is the jailer's jailer. ![“The prisoner is the jailer's jailer.” quote by Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/ursula-k-le-guin-138_jailer_the-prisoner-is-the-jailer-s-jailer-5172_517289.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/ursula-k-le-guin-138_jailer_the-prisoner-is-the-jailer-s-jailer-5172_517289.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/ursula-k-le-guin-138_jailer_the-prisoner-is-the-jailer-s-jailer-5172_517289.jpg) > ““The prisoner is the jailer's jailer.”” [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power structures often turn the oppressed into enforcers of the same oppression. **In simple terms:** Oppressed can become oppressors. Key Takeaway Beware of internalizing the oppressor’s role. Themes power oppression identity control Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - activism - leadership - personal growth - community building Key Concepts social dynamics psychology systems theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when you’re perpetuating the system you oppose? - What steps can you take to break that cycle? A Different Perspective Even when freed, people may replicate the very systems that held them captive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Prisoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoner/) ## Related quotes > [“Right, that's exactly what I mean by your being both the prisoner and the jailer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/right-that-s-exactly-what-i-mean-by-your-being-both-the-prisoner-and/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [“A prisoner is imprisoned by the crime that he has committed. 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He won all his battles, till the last one.” “We all do,” Aeneas remarked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/hector-had-no-virtue-of-course-he-did-he-won-all-his-battles-till-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I was willing to believe him that most modern writing was trash, on the evidence that so much old writing was trash; but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-was-willing-to-believe-him-that-most-modern-writing-was-trash-on/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Can women operate as women in a male institution without becoming imitation men?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/can-women-operate-as-women-in-a-male-institution-without-becoming/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) [Explore all 1,114 Ursula K. Le Guin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## More Jailer quotes > [“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/) > [Church membership was so important that Paul and Silas baptized the Philippian jailer into the membership of Christ's church at midnight with Paul's back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-adams/church-membership-was-so-important-that-paul-and-silas-baptized-the/) [Jay Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-adams/) > [I like to think of myself as a 'Mord the jailer' type.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-b-weiss/i-like-to-think-of-myself-as-a-mord-the-jailer-type/) [D. B. Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-b-weiss/) > [I think filmmaking should be a wonderfully free collaborative process, and it so very rarely is. I often see directors as jailers of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-oldman/i-think-filmmaking-should-be-a-wonderfully-free-collaborative-process/) [Gary Oldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-oldman/) > [“She was prisoner to an old, forgotten god, kept from her home, probably never to see it again, and yet... the way she sat,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-diemer/she-was-prisoner-to-an-old-forgotten-god-kept-from-her-home-probably/) [Sarah Diemer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-diemer/) > [“I never said you were supposed to be a jailer, i only said a normal person would have questioned why someone would create a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janette-rallison/i-never-said-you-were-supposed-to-be-a-jailer-i-only-said-a-normal/) [Janette Rallison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janette-rallison/) > [Priests, kings, statesmen, soldiers, bankers and public functionaries of all sorts; policemen, jailers and hangmen; capitalists, usurers, businessmen and property-owners; lawyers, economists and politicians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/priests-kings-statesmen-soldiers-bankers-and-public-functionaries-of/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [Cage of freedom, that's our prison; we're the jailer and captive combined Cage of freedom, cast in power; all the trappings of our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-anderson/cage-of-freedom-that-s-our-prison-we-re-the-jailer-and-captive/) [Jon Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-anderson/) > [Ah," said the jailer, "do not always brood over what is impossible, or you will be mad in a fortnight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/ah-said-the-jailer-do-not-always-brood-over-what-is-impossible-or-you/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > [Americans are given the sole option of electing their jailer for four years and sometimes do him the honour of re-electing him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/americans-are-given-the-sole-option-of-electing-their-jailer-for-four/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) > [It's about realizing, painfully, you've kept that voice inside yourself, locked away from even yourself. And you step back and see that your jailer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/it-s-about-realizing-painfully-you-ve-kept-that-voice-inside-yourself/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [A boy is a magical creature you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can't lock him out of your heart. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-boy-is-a-magical-creature-you-can-lock-him-out-of-your-workshop-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Beware of those who seek to take care of you lest your caretakers become your jailers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/beware-of-those-who-seek-to-take-care-of-you-lest-your-caretakers/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [“No one took a smiling jailer seriously. A smiling executioner was worse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-kyle-mcneal/no-one-took-a-smiling-jailer-seriously-a-smiling-executioner-was-worse/) [J. Kyle McNeal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-kyle-mcneal/) > [Whatever you hold in contempt is your jailer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-behan/whatever-you-hold-in-contempt-is-your-jailer/) [Brendan Behan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-behan/) Browse all 55 Jailer quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The prisoner is the jailer's jailer.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ursula K. 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