--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He had drawn many a thousand of these…" description: "\"He had drawn many a thousand of these rations in prisons and camps, and though he'd never had an opportunity to weight them on scales, and although, be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8b/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_bread_he-had-drawn-many-a-thousand-of-these-ra_93472.jpg" --- # He had drawn many a thousand of these rations in prisons… ![“He had drawn many a thousand of these rations in prisons and camps, and though he'd never had an opportunity to weight them on scales, and although, being a man of timid nature, he knew no way of standing up for his rights, he, like every other prisoner, had discovered long ago that honest weight…” quote by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8b/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_bread_he-had-drawn-many-a-thousand-of-these-ra_93472.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8b/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_bread_he-had-drawn-many-a-thousand-of-these-ra_93472.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8b/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn-671_bread_he-had-drawn-many-a-thousand-of-these-ra_93472.jpg) > “He had drawn many a thousand of these rations in prisons and camps, and though he'd never had an opportunity to weight them on scales, and although, being a man of timid nature, he knew no way of standing up for his rights, he, like every other prisoner, had discovered long ago that honest weight was never to be found in the bread-cutting. There was short weight in every ration. The only point was how short. So every day you took a look to soothe your soul - today, maybe, they haven't snitched any.” [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Illustrates how prisoners gauge their humanity by the scantness of rations, using weight as a metaphor for dignity and hope. **In simple terms:** Rations as a measure of dignity. Key Takeaway Scarcity reveals inner resilience. Themes prison life human dignity survival hope metaphor Mood somber hopeful Type literary reflective When to use this quote - historical memoirs - human‑rights advocacy - literary analysis Key Concepts existential resilience psychology of scarcity Practical Applications - educational programs - documentary narration Questions to Reflect On - How does scarcity shape moral perception? - What does 'weight' symbolize in oppressive contexts? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Prisoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoner/) [Rations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rations/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Weight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weight/) [Your soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your-soul/) ## Related quotes > [How quickly a zek (a prisoner) gets cheeky-or, putting it in literary language, how quickly a man's requirements grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/how-quickly-a-zek-a-prisoner-gets-cheeky-or-putting-it-in-literary/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Truth is the most precious thing. That's why we should ration it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/truth-is-the-most-precious-thing-that-s-why-we-should-ration-it/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [“In return for their faithful service, they would receive Red Army food rations, which amounted to a generous ladle, twice daily, from a cauldron…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-furst/in-return-for-their-faithful-service-they-would-receive-red-army-food/) [Alan Furst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-furst/) > [ It is probable that two proposed unknown rations are incommensurable because if many unknown rations are proposed it is most probable that any \[one\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-oresme/it-is-probable-that-two-proposed-unknown-rations-are-incommensurable/) Nicole Oresme > [Being deceived into thinking the perks of slavery are a good thing, we can easily aquire a preference for chains and a taste for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-green/being-deceived-into-thinking-the-perks-of-slavery-are-a-good-thing-we/) [Dennis Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-green/) > [“During World War II, when combat rations were tinned, meat hashes were a common entrée because they worked well with the filling machines. “But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/during-world-war-ii-when-combat-rations-were-tinned-meat-hashes-were/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [It is the daily; it is the small; it is the cumulative injuries of little people that we are here to protect…If we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/it-is-the-daily-it-is-the-small-it-is-the-cumulative-injuries-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [I began conducting when I was in school, around age 12, because I was writing little theater pieces and wanted to perform them. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-benjamin/i-began-conducting-when-i-was-in-school-around-age-12-because-i-was/) [George Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-benjamin/) > [When the mind has a tendency to dream, it is a mistake to keep dreams away from it, to ration its dreams. So long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-the-mind-has-a-tendency-to-dream-it-is-a-mistake-to-keep-dreams/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Even the distribution of rations leaves much to be desired; the fatigue party, well-intentioned and sympathetic though it be, often finds itself short of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/even-the-distribution-of-rations-leaves-much-to-be-desired-the/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [“Under the food-distribution system, regular workers were officially entitled to one and a half pounds of grain per day. For some perverse reason, farmers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/under-the-food-distribution-system-regular-workers-were-officially/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [People don't realize where unsweet tea came from. During the war they had to ration sugar, so then everybody just had to drink bitter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/si-robertson/people-don-t-realize-where-unsweet-tea-came-from-during-the-war-they/) [Si Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/si-robertson/) > [Life is like invading Russia. A blitz start, massed shakos, plumes dancing like a flustered henhouse; a period of svelte progress recorded in ebullient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/life-is-like-invading-russia-a-blitz-start-massed-shakos-plumes/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [If you develop 10 things, and you can get two or three made, that's a very high ration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judd-apatow/if-you-develop-10-things-and-you-can-get-two-or-three-made-that-s-a/) [Judd Apatow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judd-apatow/) > [All that was required of them (i.e. the brain-washed masses) was a primitive patriotism which could be appealed to whenever it was necessary to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/all-that-was-required-of-them-i-e-the-brain-washed-masses-was-a/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn > [If you wanted to put the world to rights, who should you begin with: yourself or others?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/if-you-wanted-to-put-the-world-to-rights-who-should-you-begin-with/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“...you are strong only as long as you don't deprive people of everything . For a person you've taken everything from is no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/you-are-strong-only-as-long-as-you-don-t-deprive-people-of-everything/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force. This is not merely interference with freedom of the press…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/woe-to-that-nation-whose-literature-is-cut-short-by-the-intrusion-of/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Literature becomes the living memory of a nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/literature-becomes-the-living-memory-of-a-nation/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [If there were no executioners, there would be no executions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/if-there-were-no-executioners-there-would-be-no-executions/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Not everything has a name. Some things lead us into a realm beyond words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/not-everything-has-a-name-some-things-lead-us-into-a-realm-beyond/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [It is almost always impossible to evaluate at the time events which you have already experienced, and to understand their meaning with the guidance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-is-almost-always-impossible-to-evaluate-at-the-time-events-which/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Human nature is full of riddles; . . . one of those riddles is: how is it that people who have been crushed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/human-nature-is-full-of-riddles-one-of-those-riddles-is-how-is-it/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“It was astonishing that the pseudo wreckers, who knew perfectly well that they weren't wreckers, believed that military men and priests were being shaken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-was-astonishing-that-the-pseudo-wreckers-who-knew-perfectly-well/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [When the whole discussion of "developing a national idea" hastily began in post-Soviet Russia, I tried to pour cold water on it with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/when-the-whole-discussion-of-developing-a-national-idea-hastily-began/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“It was granted me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-was-granted-me-to-carry-away-from-my-prison-years-on-my-bent-back/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Call no day happy 'til it is done; call no man happy til he is dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/call-no-day-happy-til-it-is-done-call-no-man-happy-til-he-is-dead/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relationships, this creates an atmosphere of spiritual mediocrity that paralyzes a person's noblest impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/whenever-the-tissue-of-life-is-woven-of-legalistic-relationships-this/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [The same old caveman feeling-greed, envy, violence, and mutual hate, which along the way assumed respectable pseudonyms like class struggle, racial struggle, mass struggle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/the-same-old-caveman-feeling-greed-envy-violence-and-mutual-hate/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Surrender one hair, and you'll end up beardless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/surrender-one-hair-and-you-ll-end-up-beardless/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) [Explore all 412 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) ## More Bread quotes > [French women don't eat Wonder Bread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mireille-guiliano/french-women-don-t-eat-wonder-bread/) [Mireille Guiliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mireille-guiliano/) > [In the olden days in England, you could be hung for stealing a sheep or a loaf of bread. However, if a sheep stole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-harding/in-the-olden-days-in-england-you-could-be-hung-for-stealing-a-sheep/) [Mike Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-harding/) > [I don't eat meat - chicken, fish, none of that. I eat a lot of vegetable sandwiches, like lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers, whatever I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gza/i-don-t-eat-meat-chicken-fish-none-of-that-i-eat-a-lot-of-vegetable/) Gza > [“We should remark the grace and fascination that there is even in the incidentals of Nature's processes.. When a loaf of bread,. for instance,.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-should-remark-the-grace-and-fascination-that-there-is-even-in-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [When I met you you were oh so sweet, now you give me the bread and you take all the meat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-jett/when-i-met-you-you-were-oh-so-sweet-now-you-give-me-the-bread-and-you/) [Joan Jett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-jett/) > [When you fight to give your family bread, that's not passion anymore: that's conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoel-romero/when-you-fight-to-give-your-family-bread-that-s-not-passion-anymore/) [Yoel Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoel-romero/) > [I think the best Thanksgiving we ever had was one where we didn't even have a turkey. Mom and Dad sat us kids down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/i-think-the-best-thanksgiving-we-ever-had-was-one-where-we-didn-t/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [Bread is a second cause; the LORD Himself is the first source of our sustenance. He can work without the second cause as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/bread-is-a-second-cause-the-lord-himself-is-the-first-source-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Even if we have to go without bread, we Albanians do not violate principles. We do not betray Marxism - Leninism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enver-hoxha/even-if-we-have-to-go-without-bread-we-albanians-do-not-violate/) [Enver Hoxha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enver-hoxha/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“Nine times out of ten, people pick the wrong food. 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Cavanaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-cavanaugh/) [Browse all 2,164 Bread quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He had drawn many a thousand of these rations in prisons and camps, and though he'd never had an opportunity to weight them on scales, and although, being a man of timid nature, he knew no way of standing up for his rights, he, like every other prisoner, had discovered long ago that honest weight was never to be found in the bread-cutting. There was short weight in every ration. The only point was how short. 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