---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While farmers generally allow one rooster…"
description: "\"While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens, ten men are scarcely sufficient to service one woman.\" — Giovanni Boccaccio"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/giovanni-boccaccio-22583_farmers_while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooste_966211.jpg"
---

#  While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens…

![“While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens, ten men are scarcely sufficient to service one woman.” quote by Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/giovanni-boccaccio-22583_farmers_while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooste_966211.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/giovanni-boccaccio-22583_farmers_while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooste_966211.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/giovanni-boccaccio-22583_farmers_while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooste_966211.jpg)

> “While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens, ten men are scarcely sufficient to service one woman.”

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

It humorously suggests that a small number of men cannot adequately serve many women, echoing a proverb about ratios.

**In simple terms:** Men are too few for many women.

Key Takeaway

Recognize imbalance and seek fairness.

Themes

gender humor relationships inequality

Mood

wry critical satirical

Type

aphor social commentary

When to use this quote

- marriage
- courtship
- dating
- community expectations

Key Concepts

social norms power dynamics

Questions to Reflect On

- How do societal expectations shape gender roles?
- What balance is fair in relationships?

A Different Perspective

Oversimplifies complex gender dynamics.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Farmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farmers/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/)

## Related quotes

> [“First, an egg is not an egg is not an egg. I don't know what to call the things that are produced by hens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamar-adler/first-an-egg-is-not-an-egg-is-not-an-egg-i-don-t-know-what-to-call/)

[Tamar Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamar-adler/)

> [Death is a fickle hen, and random are her eggs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armando-iannucci/death-is-a-fickle-hen-and-random-are-her-eggs/)

[Armando Iannucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armando-iannucci/)

> [When the worms are scarce, what does a hen do? Does she stop scratching? She does not. She scratches all the harder. A lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/when-the-worms-are-scarce-what-does-a-hen-do-does-she-stop-scratching/)

[B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/)

> [You can't set a hen in one morning and have chicken salad for lunch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-m-humphrey/you-can-t-set-a-hen-in-one-morning-and-have-chicken-salad-for-lunch/)

[George M. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-m-humphrey/)

> [I would like to break out of this "dark, brooding" image, cause I'm actually not like that at all. In Ireland, brooding is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-byrne/i-would-like-to-break-out-of-this-dark-brooding-image-cause-i-m-2/)

[Gabriel Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-byrne/)

> [It takes one hen to lay an egg, but seven men to sell it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-dennis/it-takes-one-hen-to-lay-an-egg-but-seven-men-to-sell-it/)

C. J. Dennis

> [Every hen thinks she has laid the best egg! Can we not all believe as we choose? But the choice of others - what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/every-hen-thinks-she-has-laid-the-best-egg-can-we-not-all-believe-as/)

[Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/)

> [When painting the faces of young persons ... use the yolk of the egg of a city hen, because they have lighter yolks than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cennino-cennini/when-painting-the-faces-of-young-persons-use-the-yolk-of-the-egg-of-a/)

[Cennino Cennini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cennino-cennini/)

> [We are constituted a good deal like chickens, which, taken from the hen, and put in a basket of cotton in the chimney-corner, willoften…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chickens-which-taken-from-the-hen/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [The old brown hen and the old blue sky, Between the two we live and die The broken cartwheel on the hill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-old-brown-hen-and-the-old-blue-sky-between-the-two-we-live-and/)

[Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/)

> [You have the chicken, the hen, and the rooster. The chicken goes with the hen So who is having sex with the rooster?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/you-have-the-chicken-the-hen-and-the-rooster-the-chicken-goes-with/)

[William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/)

> [Why writers write I do not know. As well ask why a hen lays an egg or why a cow stands patiently while an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/why-writers-write-i-do-not-know-as-well-ask-why-a-hen-lays-an-egg-or/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [We all need to know how to cook. I can buy a chicken and have many meals come from it. Is it affordable? Yes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-waters/we-all-need-to-know-how-to-cook-i-can-buy-a-chicken-and-have-many/)

[Alice Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-waters/)

> [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/)

[Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/)

> [Perhaps the most important reason to be skeptical of government inflation numbers is that the government, like a fox campaigning to guard a hen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/perhaps-the-most-important-reason-to-be-skeptical-of-government/)

[Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/)

## More by Giovanni Boccaccio

> [Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/nothing-is-so-indecent-that-it-cannot-be-said-to-another-person-if/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [Much is required of those who are happy, especially if they have needed comforting in the past, and have received it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/much-is-required-of-those-who-are-happy-especially-if-they-have/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [Kissed mouth don’t lose its fortune, on the contrary it renews itself just as the moon does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/kissed-mouth-don-t-lose-its-fortune-on-the-contrary-it-renews-itself/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [“Tu non potrai fuggir le mie saette se l´arco tiro, o sciocca peccatrice! –”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/tu-non-potrai-fuggir-le-mie-saette-se-l-arco-tiro-o-sciocca-peccatrice/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [To have compassion for those who suffer is a human quality which everyone should possess, especially those who have required comfort themselves in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/to-have-compassion-for-those-who-suffer-is-a-human-quality-which/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [Human it is to have compassion on the unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/human-it-is-to-have-compassion-on-the-unhappy/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [In the affairs of this world, poverty alone is without envy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/in-the-affairs-of-this-world-poverty-alone-is-without-envy/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [My mind is wholly possessed by Love, who rules every part there of, in virtue of his all-embracing deity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/my-mind-is-wholly-possessed-by-love-who-rules-every-part-there-of-in/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [It's better to repent what you enjoyed than to repent not having enjoyed anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/it-s-better-to-repent-what-you-enjoyed-than-to-repent-not-having/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [“Let this grisly beginning be none other to you than is to wayfarers a rugged and steep mountain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/let-this-grisly-beginning-be-none-other-to-you-than-is-to-wayfarers-a/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [People tend to believe the bad rather than the good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/people-tend-to-believe-the-bad-rather-than-the-good/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [Heaven would indeed be heaven if lovers were there permitted as much enjoyment as they had experienced on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/heaven-would-indeed-be-heaven-if-lovers-were-there-permitted-as-much/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [You must read, you must persevere, you must sit up nights, you must inquire, and exert the utmost power of your mind. If one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/you-must-read-you-must-persevere-you-must-sit-up-nights-you-must/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [In this world, you only get what you grab for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/in-this-world-you-only-get-what-you-grab-for/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

> [Although love dwells in gorgeous palaces, and sumptuous apartments, more willingly than in miserable and desolate cottages, it cannot be denied but that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/although-love-dwells-in-gorgeous-palaces-and-sumptuous-apartments/)

[Giovanni Boccaccio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

[Explore all 21 Giovanni Boccaccio quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/)

## More Chicken quotes

> [I have my meals delivered... you know what I like? Chicken and rice... But the problem with being a defensive lineman is, if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-douglas/i-have-my-meals-delivered-you-know-what-i-like-chicken-and-rice-but/)

[Hugh Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-douglas/)

> [“Oh it don't make no kind of sense. Big ol' ox like Grady won't sit next to a colored child. But he eats eggs-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/oh-it-don-t-make-no-kind-of-sense-big-ol-ox-like-grady-won-t-sit-next/)

[Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/)

> [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

> [I joined PETA for minks and dogs. I need my beef, my chicken, my seafood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/waka-flocka-flame/i-joined-peta-for-minks-and-dogs-i-need-my-beef-my-chicken-my-seafood/)

[Waka Flocka Flame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/waka-flocka-flame/)

> [The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/the-bird-fights-its-way-out-of-the-egg-the-egg-is-the-world-who-would/)

[Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/)

> [Having parents who are chicken sexers - I had trouble explaining that to kids at school!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-isaac-chung/having-parents-who-are-chicken-sexers-i-had-trouble-explaining-that/)

[Lee Isaac Chung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-isaac-chung/)

> [I have a great time cooking and eating Thai green chicken curry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshay-kumar/i-have-a-great-time-cooking-and-eating-thai-green-chicken-curry/)

[Akshay Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshay-kumar/)

> [call it chicken salad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/call-it-chicken-salad/)

[Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/)

> [WE RUN OUT OF CHICKEN!!…i was like WHAT ON EARTH!!!...KFC RUN OUT OF CHICKEN…what kind of KFC is this?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-run-out-of-chicken-i-was-like-what-on-earth-kfc-run-out-of-chicken/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [If I had a modelling job and then it became a poster, it meant that my kids and I could have turkey for Christmas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maye-musk/if-i-had-a-modelling-job-and-then-it-became-a-poster-it-meant-that-my/)

[Maye Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maye-musk/)

> [My standard Nando's order is a chicken breast burger served 'medium,' which is still fairly spicy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lanchester/my-standard-nando-s-order-is-a-chicken-breast-burger-served-medium/)

[John Lanchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lanchester/)

> [“The schizophrenic in the sleeping bag with a live chicken and a can of tomato soup spilling onto the sidewalk had no right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-schizophrenic-in-the-sleeping-bag-with-a-live-chicken-and-a-can/)

[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

> [Dinner is usually rice, vegetables and chicken, or I'll make fajitas, and we'll do roast chicken on the weekend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-daly/dinner-is-usually-rice-vegetables-and-chicken-or-i-ll-make-fajitas/)

[Tess Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-daly/)

> [Chicken troll :P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritesh/chicken-troll-p/)

[Ritesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritesh/)

> [I eat a lot of chicken with salad or salmon with salad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-ellison/i-eat-a-lot-of-chicken-with-salad-or-salmon-with-salad/)

[Jennifer Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-ellison/)

Browse all 941 Chicken quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens, ten men are scarcely sufficient to service one woman.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Giovanni Boccaccio"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooster-for-ten-hens-ten-men-are/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Chicken"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooster-for-ten-hens-ten-men-are/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/giovanni-boccaccio-22583_farmers_while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooste_966211.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/giovanni-boccaccio-22583_farmers_while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooste_966211.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/giovanni-boccaccio-22583_farmers_while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooste_966211.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“While farmers generally allow one rooster for ten hens, ten men are scarcely sufficient to service one woman.” — Giovanni Boccaccio",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Giovanni Boccaccio",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-boccaccio/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "While farmers generally allow one rooster...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooster-for-ten-hens-ten-men-are/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-boccaccio/while-farmers-generally-allow-one-rooster-for-ten-hens-ten-men-are/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
