Skip to content
quotesby

Well, we're our own prisons. We're each our own wardens and we do our own times. We get stuck in our own little trips and we kind a judge ourselves the way we do. You know, I can't judge uh, nobody else, best thing I can do is try to judge myself and live with that. See, what other people do is not really my affair, unless they approach me with it, and want me to do something about it, uh, then I'll uh take into consideration what has to be done. But other than that I just uh, try to do my number, and do my time.

Charles Manson#6

PsychologyFreedomIsolationSelf improvement

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker suggests that individuals are responsible for their own mental confinement and self-judgment rather than blaming others.
In plain terms
You are your own jailer and should focus on judging yourself instead of other people.
What can you take from it?
Focus on self-reflection rather than judging others.

Where it applies

  • self-reflection
  • conflict resolution
  • personal accountability

Putting it to work

  • journaling
  • mindfulness practices

Questions to consider

  • How much of your stress comes from self-judgment?
  • In what ways do you act as your own warden?

Another view

The quote ignores external systemic factors that can constrain individuals.

More from Charles Manson

  1. I never thought I was normal, never tried to be normal. Normal runs in that little rut down there. I don't know nothing about being normal. I've been in jail a…

    Permalink to quote #5
  2. You can try to kill me a million times more but you cannot kill soul. Truth was, is, and will always be. You have beaten me, broken my neck, knocked my teeth o…

    Permalink to quote #7
  3. Rubin, I am not of your world. I've spent all my life in prison. When I was a child I was an orphan and too ugly to be adopted. Now I am too beautiful to be se…

    Permalink to quote #4

Related quotes

  1. We suffer primarily not from our vices or our weaknesses, but from our illusions.

    Daniel J. BoorstinDaniel J. Boorstin quote #1
  2. At least half of my life's many mistakes can be safely put down to impetuosity: the other half derive from inertia.

    Donald JamesDonald James quote #1
  3. Power of mind is infinite while brawn is limited.

    Koichi ToheiKoichi Tohei quote #1