{"id":30814,"date":"2011-03-11T14:28:38","date_gmt":"2011-03-11T22:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814"},"modified":"2011-03-11T14:37:07","modified_gmt":"2011-03-11T22:37:07","slug":"why-do-guys-hold-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814","title":{"rendered":"Why Do Guys Hold Back?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Dennis Prager&#8217;s radio show today, Dennis said: &#8220;I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do not say everything is fear that saying it will alienate that person. There&#8217;s a lack of trust.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What stops you from having such a friend?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A caller named Richard said: &#8220;From a male point of view, holding back a bit keeps a person from being vulnerable. When they do open up, they feel like they are showing their cards on the poker table. That&#8217;s why guys hold back.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If you were to open up to a friend on politics and there was a doubt that that could get out and it could hurt your business&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s innately in our male genes to be defensive and protective and to keep ourselves well armed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dennis: &#8220;I don&#8217;t identify vulnerable with weak.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Dennis Prager&#8217;s radio show today, Dennis said: &#8220;I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything. &#8220;Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5769],"tags":[29761,25738,7980,25737,1453],"class_list":["post-30814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dennis-prager","category-happiness","tag-dennis-prager","tag-lack-of-trust","tag-point-of-view","tag-poker-table","tag-radio-show"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.10 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On Dennis Prager&#039;s radio show today, Dennis said: &quot;I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything. &quot;Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do not say everything is fear that saying it will alienate that person. There&#039;s a lack\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Luke Ford\"\/>\n\t<meta name=\"google-site-verification\" content=\"HMjuOfLRyzTPB-5Z5FG4BHkfZ1fbEij34rmbKM3BkZ4\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.10\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Luke Ford - No sacred cows.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Do Guys Hold Back? - Luke Ford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Dennis Prager&#039;s radio show today, Dennis said: &quot;I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything. &quot;Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do not say everything is fear that saying it will alienate that person. There&#039;s a lack\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-11T22:28:38+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-03-11T22:37:07+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lukecford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lukeford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Why Do Guys Hold Back? - Luke Ford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"On Dennis Prager&#039;s radio show today, Dennis said: &quot;I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything. &quot;Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do not say everything is fear that saying it will alienate that person. There&#039;s a lack\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lukeford\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#blogposting\",\"name\":\"Why Do Guys Hold Back? - Luke Ford\",\"headline\":\"Why Do Guys Hold Back?\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#person\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#articleImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Luke Ford\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-11T14:28:38-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-03-11T14:37:07-08:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Dennis Prager, Happiness, Dennis Prager, lack of trust, point of view, poker table, radio show\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=4#listItem\",\"name\":\"Dennis Prager\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=4#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dennis Prager\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=4\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#listItem\",\"name\":\"Why Do Guys Hold Back?\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Why Do Guys Hold Back?\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?cat=4#listItem\",\"name\":\"Dennis Prager\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#person\",\"name\":\"Luke Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#personImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Luke Ford\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1\",\"name\":\"Luke Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Luke Ford\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814\",\"name\":\"Why Do Guys Hold Back? - Luke Ford\",\"description\":\"On Dennis Prager's radio show today, Dennis said: \\\"I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything. \\\"Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do not say everything is fear that saying it will alienate that person. There's a lack\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?p=30814#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/?author=1#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-11T14:28:38-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-03-11T14:37:07-08:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Luke Ford\",\"alternateName\":\"No Sacred Cows\",\"description\":\"No sacred cows.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lukeford.net\\\/blog\\\/#person\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Why Do Guys Hold Back? - Luke Ford","description":"On Dennis Prager's radio show today, Dennis said: \"I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything. \"Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do not say everything is fear that saying it will alienate that person. There's a lack","canonical_url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"google-site-verification":"HMjuOfLRyzTPB-5Z5FG4BHkfZ1fbEij34rmbKM3BkZ4","miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#blogposting","name":"Why Do Guys Hold Back? - Luke Ford","headline":"Why Do Guys Hold Back?","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#person"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#articleImage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Luke Ford"},"datePublished":"2011-03-11T14:28:38-08:00","dateModified":"2011-03-11T14:37:07-08:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#webpage"},"articleSection":"Dennis Prager, Happiness, Dennis Prager, lack of trust, point of view, poker table, radio show"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=4#listItem","name":"Dennis Prager"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=4#listItem","position":2,"name":"Dennis Prager","item":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=4","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#listItem","name":"Why Do Guys Hold Back?"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#listItem","position":3,"name":"Why Do Guys Hold Back?","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=4#listItem","name":"Dennis Prager"}}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#person","name":"Luke Ford","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#personImage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Luke Ford"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1","name":"Luke Ford","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/af8ecf5ef66099147247f500ec429b38.jpg?ver=1784204923","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Luke Ford"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#webpage","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814","name":"Why Do Guys Hold Back? - Luke Ford","description":"On Dennis Prager's radio show today, Dennis said: \"I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything. \"Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do not say everything is fear that saying it will alienate that person. There's a lack","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?author=1#author"},"datePublished":"2011-03-11T14:28:38-08:00","dateModified":"2011-03-11T14:37:07-08:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/","name":"Luke Ford","alternateName":"No Sacred Cows","description":"No sacred cows.","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/#person"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"Luke Ford - No sacred cows.","og:type":"article","og:title":"Why Do Guys Hold Back? - Luke Ford","og:description":"On Dennis Prager's radio show today, Dennis said: &quot;I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything. &quot;Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do not say everything is fear that saying it will alienate that person. There's a lack","og:url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814","og:image":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg","og:image:width":800,"og:image:height":600,"article:published_time":"2011-03-11T22:28:38+00:00","article:modified_time":"2011-03-11T22:37:07+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lukecford","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:site":"@lukeford","twitter:title":"Why Do Guys Hold Back? - Luke Ford","twitter:description":"On Dennis Prager's radio show today, Dennis said: &quot;I define a close friend as someone to whom you open up. Someone to whom you can say anything. &quot;Whatever you hold back is a gulf. The only reason that people do not say everything is fear that saying it will alienate that person. There's a lack","twitter:creator":"@lukeford","twitter:image":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lukesanta.jpg"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"30814","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2023-05-11 06:44:03","updated":"2025-06-04 23:17:17","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=4\" title=\"Dennis Prager\">Dennis Prager<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tWhy Do Guys Hold Back?\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog"},{"label":"Dennis Prager","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?cat=4"},{"label":"Why Do Guys Hold Back?","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=30814"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30818,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30814\/revisions\/30818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}