Mao Zedong Quotes

Political work is the life-blood of all economic work.

— Mao Zedong

“The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history.”

— Mao Zedong

“There is in fact no such thing as art for art's sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics. Proletarian literature and art are part of the whole proletarian revolutionary cause.”

— Mao Zedong

Genuine equality between the sexes can only be realized in the process of the socialist transformation of society as a whole.

— Mao Zedong

“All reactionaries are paper tigers.”

— Mao Zedong

“In time of difficulties, we must not lose sight of our achievements.”

— Mao Zedong

“Apart from their other characteristics, the outstanding thing about China's 600 million people is that they are "poor and blank". This may seem a bad thing, but in reality it is a good thing. Poverty gives rise to the desire for changes the desire for action and the desire for revolution. On a blank sheet of paper free from any mark, the freshest and most beautiful characters can be written; the freshest and most beautiful pictures can be painted.”

— Mao Zedong

“Oxford shirts. Definitely more oxford shirts.”

— Mao Zedong

“Power comes from the muzzle of a gun, those that have the guns have the power, those that have the power dictate what type of government their shall be.”

— Mao Zedong

The socialist system will eventually replace the capitalist system; this is an objective law independent of man's will. However much the reactionaries try to hold back the wheel of history, eventually revolution will take place and will inevitably triumph.

— Mao Zedong

“We must thoroughly clear away all ideas among our cadres of winning easy victories through good luck, without hard and bitter struggle, without sweat and blood.”

— Mao Zedong

“The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. Young people, full of vigour and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. Our hope is placed on you ... The world belongs to you. China's future belongs to you.”

— Mao Zedong

“No political party can possibly lead a great revolutionary movement to victory unless it possesses revolutionary theory and knowledge of history and has a profound grasp of the practical movement.”

— Mao Zedong

“Communists should be the most farsighted, the most self-sacrificing, the most resolute, and the least prejudiced in sizing up situations, and should rely on the majority of the masses and win their support.”

— Mao Zedong

“It is good that since the outbreak of the war with Japan, more and more revolutionary writers have been coming to Yan'an ... But it does not necessarily follow that ... they have integrated themselves completely with the masses here. The two must be completely integrated if we are to push ahead with our revolutionary work.”

— Mao Zedong

“We Communists never conceal our political views. Definitely and beyond all doubt, our future or maximum program is to carry China forward to socialism and communism. Both the name of our Party and our Marxist world outlook unequivocally point to this supreme ideal of the future, a future of incomparable brightness and splendor.”

— Mao Zedong

“Communism has nothing to do with love. Communism is an excellent hammer which we use to destroy our enemy.”

— Mao Zedong

“Our national defense will be consolidated and no imperialist will be allowed to invade our territory again. Our People's armed forces must be maintained and developed with the brave and steeled People's Liberation Army as their foundation. We will have not only a powerful army but also a powerful air force and a powerful navy.”

— Mao Zedong

“Without armed struggle neither the proletariat, nor the people, nor the Communist Party would have any standing at all in China and it would be impossible for the revolution to triumph. In these years [the eighteen years since the founding of the Party] the development, consolidation and bolshevization of our Party have proceeded in the midst of revolutionary wars; without armed struggle the Communist Party would assuredly not be what it is today. Comrades throughout the Party must never forget this experience for which we have paid in blood.”

— Mao Zedong

“Just because we have won victory, we must never relax our vigilance against the frenzied plots for revenge by the imperialists and their running dogs. Whoever relaxes vigilance will disarm himself politically and land himself in a passive position.”

— Mao Zedong

“The seizure of power by armed force, the settlement of the issue by war, is the central task and the highest form of revolution. This Marxist-Leninist principle of revolution holds well universally, for China and for all other countries.”

— Mao Zedong

“Let the ancient serve the present, let the foreign serve the national; by developing that which has been accomplished one creates something that is new.”

— Mao Zedong

“We should encourage comrades to take the interests of the whole into account. Every Party member, every branch of work, every statement and every action must proceed from the interests of the whole Party; it is absolutely impermissible to violate this principle.”

— Mao Zedong

“Communists must never separate themselves from the majority of the people or neglect them by leading only a few progressive contingents in an isolated and rash advance, but must take care to forge close links between the progressive elements and the broad masses. This is what thinking in terms of the majority means.”

— Mao Zedong

“At no time and in no circumstances should a Communist place his personal interests first; he should subordinate them to the interests of the nation and of the masses. Hence, selfishness, slacking, corruption, seeking the limelight, and so on, are most contemptible, while selflessness, working with all one's energy, whole-hearted devotion to public duty, and quiet hard work will command respect.”

— Mao Zedong

A Communist must never be opinionated or domineering, thinking that he is good in everything while others are good in nothing; he must never shut himself up in his little room, or brag and boast and lord it over others.

— Mao Zedong

“War is the highest form of struggle for resolving contradictions, when they have developed to a certain stage, between classes, nations, states, or political groups, and it has existed ever since the emergence of private property and of classes.”

— Mao Zedong

“All the experience the Chinese people have accumulated through several decades teaches us to enforce the people's democratic dictatorship, that is, to deprive the reactionaries of the right to speak and let the people alone have that right.”

— Mao Zedong

[Khrushchev] should get a one-ton medal.

— Mao Zedong

“Let one thousand flowers bloom.”

— Mao Zedong

“The government burns down whole cities while the people are forbidden to light lamps.”

— Mao Zedong

“That has less significance than a dog's fart.”

— Mao Zedong

“The imperialists and domestic reactionaries will certainly not take their defeat Lying down and they will struggle to the last ditch. After there is peace and order throughout the country, they will still engage in sabotage and create disturbances in various ways and will try every day and every minute to stage a comeback. This is inevitable, beyond all doubt, and under no circumstances must we relax our vigilance.”

— Mao Zedong

“The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue”

— Mao Zedong

Liupan the Mountain of Six Circles Dazzling sky to the far cirrus clouds. I gaze at wild geese vanishing into the south. If we cannot reach the Long Wall we are not true men. On my fingers I count the twenty thousand li we have already marched. On the summit of Liupan the west wind lazily ripples our red banner. Today we have the long rope in our hands. When will we tie up the gray dragon of the seven stars?

— Mao Zedong

“Kunlun Mountain Over the earth the greenblue monster Kunlun who has seen all spring color and passion of men. Three million dragons of white jade soar and freeze the whole sky with snow. When a summer sun heats the globe rivers flood and men turn into fish and turtles. Who can judge a thousand years of accomplishments or failures?”

— Mao Zedong

The attitude of Communists towards any person who has made mistakes in his work should be one of persuasion in order to help him change and start afresh and not one of exclusion, unless he is incorrigible.

— Mao Zedong

“The ruthless economic exploitation and political oppression of the peasants by the landlord class forced them into numerous uprisings against its rule ... It was the class struggles of the peasants, the peasant uprisings and peasant wars that constituted the real motive force of historical development in Chinese feudal society.”

— Mao Zedong

In the final analysis, national struggle is a matter of class struggle. Among the whites in the United States, it is only the reactionary ruling circles that oppress the black people. They can in no way represent the workers, farmers, revolutionary intellectuals and other enlightened persons who comprise the overwhelming majority of the white people.

— Mao Zedong

“Learn to swim. It is a sport all the peasants can play.”

— Mao Zedong

“After the countrywide victory of the Chinese revolution and the solution of the land problem, two basic contradictions will still exist in China. The first is internal, that is, the contradiction between the working class and the bourgeoisie. The second is external, which is the contradiction between China and the imperialist countries. Consequently, after the victory of the people's democratic revolution, the state power of the people's republic under the leadership of the working class must not be weakened but must be strengthened.”

— Mao Zedong

“There is turmoil under the heavens. The prospects are excellent.”

— Mao Zedong

What is work? Work is struggle. There are difficulties and problems in those places for us to overcome and solve. We go there to work and struggle to overcome these difficulties. A good comrade is one who is more eager to go where the difficulties are greater.

— Mao Zedong

“Don't make a fuss about a world war. At most, people die ... Half the population wiped out - this happened quite a few times in Chinese history ... It's best if half the population is left, next best one-third ...”

— Mao Zedong

“In transforming backward agricultural China into an advanced industrialized country, we are confronted with arduous tasks and our experience is far from adequate. So we must be good at learning.”

— Mao Zedong

“As far as world war goes, there are really only two possibilities: either war provokes revolution, or revolution averts war.”

— Mao Zedong

History shows that wars are divided into two kinds-just and unjust. All wars that are progressive are just, and all wars that impede progress are unjust.

— Mao Zedong

If we have a correct theory but merely prate about it, pigeonhole it and do not put it into practice, then that theory, however good, is of no significance.

— Mao Zedong

“We should support whatever the enemy opposes and oppose whatever the enemy supports”

— Mao Zedong

“There is in guerilla warfare no such thing as a decisive battle.”

— Mao Zedong