Gramsci sustained his will through revolutionary movement belonging, not privileges

Evidence

These letters are an extraordinary document of human tenacity, and are justifiably reckoned one of the classics of modern Italian literature. Occasionally querulous, more often resigned, they rarely lapse into self-pity but instead are buoyed up constantly by an urgent desire to communicate information, ideas, projects or simply affection. Most striking of all is the sense they give of continuing perseverance in the face of deprivation and appalling physical suffering. Temperamentally introverted and inclined towards stoicism, Gramsci had little to rely on except force of will and the knowledge of belonging, even during this period of impotence and isolation, to a revolutionary movement. It was for this latter reason above all that, when in prison, he obstinately refused any privilege or .special treatment that could possibly imply recognition of dependence on favours granted by the regime, but instead fought tooth and nail for his exact legal rights as a political prisoner. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 232

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Imprisonment shifted Gramsci’s struggle from active to patient endurance — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 237; Gramsci’s prison terminology camouflaged revolutionary concepts against censorship; Political commitment, not ill health, drove Gramsci from university. (+1 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Imprisonment shifted Gramsci’s struggle from active to patient endurance — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 237; Gramsci’s prison terminology camouflaged revolutionary concepts against censorship; Political commitment, not ill health, drove Gramsci from university. (+1 more)