Freedom is the relative quantity of being alone.  The only
way a human being can be completely free is when he has no
social interactions at all and spends all of his time in
complete solitary confinement.  When it seems to us that
such a man is as least free as a man could be, it is in fact
directly opposite.

However, the mistake originates at the point where freedom
is identified with physical lack of confinement.  The
natural need for company (which follows from the herd
instinct) is not identified with enslaving oneself to the
company, even though this is in fact the issue.  Only a
person who is totally isolated is completely free, since
every social contact takes from him another crust of freedom
and diminishes his ability to choose.

Funnily, people who are considered to be 'free' are usually
also social and communicative, and would dedicate their
lives to the prosperity of their friends.  In other words,
they cannot imagine their life without company, without
friends, without people to give to and take from.  But those
people are not free.  They confine themselves by the demands
of their company, they even change to fulfil such demands.
Even if they achieved total self-satisfaction, they could
still be influenced by company.  By being influenced, they
lose their independence and thus their freedom.

On the other hand, a completely confined man seems totally
unattractive to us.  He doesn't have anyone to share with,
to give to or take from.  Basically, we would say that he
doesn't enjoy life, because in life there are other lives to
come in contact with, and only means of communication are
the identifying features of one's existence.  Nonetheless,
he could be a satisfied person, a person who achieved a
level of confidence so high that his solitary confinement is
only natural.  He doesn't need anyone but himself, and not
due to foolish narcissism but due to the acknowledgement
that the herd instinct and the need for company both
originate at one's lack of self-satisfaction.  It is not
required for this individual to experience a sense of
perfection - it takes only self-satisfaction, i.e. being
happy with your share and sharing it alone, to attain to
this level of self-destructing consciousness.