--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was always much impressed, in reading…" description: "\"I was always much impressed, in reading prison memoirs of revolutionists, such as Lenin and Trotsky ... by the amount of reading they did, the language..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d2/dorothy-day-1629_amount_i-was-always-much-impressed-in-reading-p_2441382.jpg" --- # I was always much impressed, in reading prison memoirs of… ![“I was always much impressed, in reading prison memoirs of revolutionists, such as Lenin and Trotsky ... by the amount of reading they did, the languages they studied, the range of their plans for a better social order. (Or rather, for a new social order.) In the Acts of the Apostles there are…” quote by Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d2/dorothy-day-1629_amount_i-was-always-much-impressed-in-reading-p_2441382.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d2/dorothy-day-1629_amount_i-was-always-much-impressed-in-reading-p_2441382.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d2/dorothy-day-1629_amount_i-was-always-much-impressed-in-reading-p_2441382.jpg) > “I was always much impressed, in reading prison memoirs of revolutionists, such as Lenin and Trotsky ... by the amount of reading they did, the languages they studied, the range of their plans for a better social order. (Or rather, for a new social order.) In the Acts of the Apostles there are constant references to the Way and the New Man.” [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Admiration for revolutionary prisoners’ extensive study and planning for societal change. **In simple terms:** Revolutionaries valued deep learning and vision. Key Takeaway Cultivate broad knowledge for social reform. Themes education revolution social justice vision Mood reflective inspired Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - activist training - policy development - community organizing Key Concepts intellectual activism historical analysis Questions to Reflect On - What modern resources can emulate their dedication? - How can we apply their learning methods today? A Different Perspective Idealizing past figures may overlook practical challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amount](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amount/) [Apostles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apostles/) [Constant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constant/) [Impressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impressed/) [Impressed Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impressed-reading-491216/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Memoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memoir/) [Memoirs Revolutionists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memoirs-revolutionists-491212/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Plans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plans/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Prison Memoirs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison-memoirs-491215/) [Range](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/range/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Revolutionists Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolutionists-lenin-491214/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-order/) [Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trotsky/) [Trotsky Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trotsky-reading-491213/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [The life we led was a proof of man's capacity for adaptation.I think that even the condemned souls in purgatory after time develop a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-life-we-led-was-a-proof-of-man-s-capacity-for-adaptation-i-think/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Many things embarrass me, but reading isn't one of them. I'm not ashamed of my slightly weird collection of prison memoirs. Nor the flaky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rachman/many-things-embarrass-me-but-reading-isn-t-one-of-them-i-m-not/) [Tom Rachman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rachman/) > [ \[Joseph\] Stalin closes the exposition of these \[Leon Trotsky\] ideas with the words, "Such are in general the characteristic features of \[Vladimir\] Lenin's conception… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/joseph-stalin-closes-the-exposition-of-these-leon-trotsky-ideas-with/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [I would trade all the advantages of humanity to be a fly on the wall when Franklin and Jefferson discussed liberty, Lenin and Trotsky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-would-trade-all-the-advantages-of-humanity-to-be-a-fly-on-the-wall/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Communism is as Jewish as the Mafia is Italian. It's a fact that almost all of the convicted spies for communism have been atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lincoln-rockwell/communism-is-as-jewish-as-the-mafia-is-italian-it-s-a-fact-that/) [George Lincoln Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lincoln-rockwell/) > [“This was the first of the St. Augustines. Previous memos had borne messages from Zwingli, Lévi-Strauss, Rilke, Chekhov, Tillich, William Blake, Charles Olson and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/this-was-the-first-of-the-st-augustines-previous-memos-had-borne/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Parvus denied that universal suffrage was an end to itself since the middle class would always find ways to manipulate the electoral system. Freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-service/parvus-denied-that-universal-suffrage-was-an-end-to-itself-since-the/) [Robert Service](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-service/) > [If you walk into a coffee shop in 1903 Vienna, you might find at the same table the artist Gustav Klimt, Sigmund Freud, Leon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/if-you-walk-into-a-coffee-shop-in-1903-vienna-you-might-find-at-the/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > [ Trotsky found out about him - Leon Trotsky - because A.J.\[Muste\] worked. He was an activist. And he organized the first sit-in strike in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/trotsky-found-out-about-him-leon-trotsky-because-a-j-muste-worked-he/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [ “\[Jürgen Habermas' obituary to friend and philosopher, Richard Rorty\] One small autobiographical piece by Rorty bears the title 'Wild Orchids and Trotsky.' In it,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jurgen-habermas/j-rgen-habermas-obituary-to-friend-and-philosopher-richard-rorty-one/) [Jürgen Habermas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jurgen-habermas/) > [The Soviet Union was pretty much what Lenin and Trotsky said it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-soviet-union-was-pretty-much-what-lenin-and-trotsky-said-it-was/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“He who does not cry out the truth when he knows the truth becomes the accomplice of the liars and falsifiers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-serge/he-who-does-not-cry-out-the-truth-when-he-knows-the-truth-becomes-the/) [Victor Serge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-serge/) > [I bet you, if I had met Trotsky, and had had a chat with him, I would have found him a very interesting and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/i-bet-you-if-i-had-met-trotsky-and-had-had-a-chat-with-him-i-would/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [ Like Rick in Casablanca: "We'll always have Paris." When what we'll always have is, like, Brooklyn and arguments about \[Lev\] Trotsky. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/like-rick-in-casablanca-we-ll-always-have-paris-when-what-we-ll/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Say what you will, there is something fine about our old aristocracy. I'll bet Trotsky couldn't hit a moving secretary with an egg on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/say-what-you-will-there-is-something-fine-about-our-old-aristocracy-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Dorothy Day > [“There was no attack on religion because people were generally indifferent to religion. They were neither hot nor cold. They were the tepid, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/there-was-no-attack-on-religion-because-people-were-generally/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [We must recognize the fact that many Nazis, Marxists and Fascists believe passionately in their fundamental rightness, and allow nothing to hinder them from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/we-must-recognize-the-fact-that-many-nazis-marxists-and-fascists/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [“Now don't think I've lost my mind - but I'll tell you, I'll look at some of the cards I have, some of Van…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/now-don-t-think-i-ve-lost-my-mind-but-i-ll-tell-you-i-ll-look-at-some/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [The Sexual Revolution is a complete rebellion against authority, natural and supernatural, even against the body and its needs, its natural functions of child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/the-sexual-revolution-is-a-complete-rebellion-against-authority/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [Idealism in the young, I guess I'm saying, is curiosity as well as goodness trying to express itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/idealism-in-the-young-i-guess-i-m-saying-is-curiosity-as-well-as/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [Voluntary poverty isn't going around with some burlap bag around you and imitating the poor. It means being indifferent to the material, doing as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/voluntary-poverty-isn-t-going-around-with-some-burlap-bag-around-you/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [Women think with their whole bodies and they see things as a whole more than men do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/women-think-with-their-whole-bodies-and-they-see-things-as-a-whole/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [My whole life so far, my whole experience has been that our failure has been not to love enough. This conviction brought me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/my-whole-life-so-far-my-whole-experience-has-been-that-our-failure/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [I think one of the things we must constantly keep in mind is, 'If anybody hits you on one cheek, turn the other.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/i-think-one-of-the-things-we-must-constantly-keep-in-mind-is-if/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [It is only through religion that communism can be achieved, and has been achieved over and over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/it-is-only-through-religion-that-communism-can-be-achieved-and-has/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [The Communists in Cuba didn't assist Castro in his revolution. They weren't on the side of the students. They didn't do anything to help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/the-communists-in-cuba-didn-t-assist-castro-in-his-revolution-they/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [Dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as well as our friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/dear-god-please-enlarge-our-hearts-to-love-each-other-to-love-our/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [A conversion is a lonely experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/a-conversion-is-a-lonely-experience/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [The sense is always that community is natural to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/the-sense-is-always-that-community-is-natural-to-people/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [“We must practice the presence of God. He said that when two or three are gathered together, there he is in the midst of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/we-must-practice-the-presence-of-god-he-said-that-when-two-or-three/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) [Explore all 220 Dorothy Day quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) ## More Amount quotes > [Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/dating-someone-on-the-opposite-end-of-the-happy-spectrum-teaches-you/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [When the amount of change externally exceeds the amount of change internally, the end is in sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/when-the-amount-of-change-externally-exceeds-the-amount-of-change/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [It's a challenge to work a character's arc into a format in which you only have a very limited amount of time to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginnifer-goodwin/it-s-a-challenge-to-work-a-character-s-arc-into-a-format-in-which-you/) [Ginnifer Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginnifer-goodwin/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [The amount you give isn't important. What matters is what that amount represents in terms of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/the-amount-you-give-isn-t-important-what-matters-is-what-that-amount/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [There's a place in Botswana where there are 100,000 elephants living in a single population. Think of the amount of space they need. Remember,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-bergin/there-s-a-place-in-botswana-where-there-are-100-000-elephants-living/) [Patrick Bergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-bergin/) > [How could you justify giving Holland twice the amount of money that you gave Belgium? Well, finally, I put it up to them. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-averell-harriman/how-could-you-justify-giving-holland-twice-the-amount-of-money-that/) [W. Averell Harriman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-averell-harriman/) > [I am not a great believer in dialectical struggle. I am much more of a fusion person. I see it as a dialogue, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-warner/i-am-not-a-great-believer-in-dialectical-struggle-i-am-much-more-of-a/) [Marina Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-warner/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) [Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/) > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) [F. A. Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-a-harper/) > [You have a little bit of talent, a certain amount of good fortune and a lot of hard work in pursuit of whatever truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-sutherland/you-have-a-little-bit-of-talent-a-certain-amount-of-good-fortune-and/) [Donald Sutherland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-sutherland/) > [I have a tremendous amount of respect for military families. To have to worry about your loved ones and still try and live a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashanti/i-have-a-tremendous-amount-of-respect-for-military-families-to-have/) [Ashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashanti/) > [In sports teams, apart from talk of sporting prowess and the imparting of inspirational thought, an extraordinary amount of time is spent discussing, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harsha-bhogle/in-sports-teams-apart-from-talk-of-sporting-prowess-and-the-imparting/) [Harsha Bhogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harsha-bhogle/) [Browse all 4,202 Amount quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amount/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was always much impressed, in reading prison memoirs of revolutionists, such as Lenin and Trotsky ... by the amount of reading they did, the languages they studied, the range of their plans for a better social order. (Or rather, for a new social order.) 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