Quotessence
Home / Authors / Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong Quotes

Former Chairman of the Communist Party of China

Filter quotes by topic

AllPeopleIfsShouldWarStruggleMassRevolutionClassChinaCommunism

Famous Mao Zedong Quotes

“We must draw up a plan for the formation of such a corps with several million people taking up the study of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, the theoretical basis of Marxism, and combating all shades of idealism and mechanical materialism. At present there are many cadres doing theoretical work, but there is still no corps of theoretical workers, much less a powerful one. Without such a corps, the cause of the entire Party, the socialist industrialization and socialist transformation of our country, the modernization of our national defence and our research in atomic energy cannot move along or succeed. I therefore recommend that you comrades read philosophy.”

PhilosophySocialismCommunismMarxismMaoDialecticsDialectical Materialism
Book:Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung: Volume V
Create image

“...this protracted war will pass through three stages. The first stage covers the period of the enemy's strategic offensive and our strategic defensive. The second stage will be the period of the enemy's strategic consolidation and our preparation for the counter-offensive. The third stage will be the period of our strategic counter-offensive and the enemy's strategic retreat.”

WarPoliticsRevolutionStrategy
Book:Selected Military Writings
Create image

“Unless you have investigated a problem, you will be deprived of the right to speak on it. Isn't that too harsh? Not in the least. When you have not probed into a problem, into the present facts and its past history, and know nothing of its essentials, whatever you say about it will undoubtedly be nonsense. Talking nonsense solves no problems, as everyone knows, so why is it unjust to deprive you of the right to speak?”

ChinaSocialismCommunismDogmatismChairman MaoMao Zedong ThoughtMarxism LenisimModern China
Author:Mao Zedong
Create image

“Education in democracy must be carried on within the Party so that members can understand the meaning of democratic life, the meaning of the relationship between democracy and centralism, and the way in which democratic centralism should be put into practice. Only in this way can we really extend democracy within the Party and at the same time avoid ultra-democracy and the laissez-faire that destroys discipline.”

WayShouldPartyPracticeDemocracyDisciplineMembersDemocraticLaissez FaireUltras
Author:Mao Zedong
Create image

“Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective. It is a corrosive which eats away unity, undermines cohesion, causes apathy and creates dissension. It robs the revolutionary ranks of compact organization and strict discipline, prevents policies from being carried through and alienates the Party organizations from the masses which the Party leads. It is an extremely bad tendency.”

CausesPartyPolicyDisciplineMassOrganizationUnityTendenciesRevolutionaryLiberalismCollectivesApathyStrictCompactCohesionDissension
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
Create image

“We should go to the masses and learn from them, synthesize their experience into better, articulated principles and methods, then do propaganda among the masses, and call upon them to put these principles and methods into practice so as to solve their problems and help them achieve liberation and happiness.”

ShouldHelpingProblemPrinciplesPracticeAchieveMassMethodSolveLiberationPropaganda
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
Create image

“The correctness of any of our policies has always to be tested and is always being tested by the masses themselves. We ourselves constantly examine our own decisions and policies. We correct our mistakes whenever we find them. We draw conclusions from all positive and negative experiences and apply those conclusions as widely as possible. In these ways relations between the Communist party and the masses of the people are constantly being improved.”

PeopleWayDecisionPartyMistakePolicyMassDrawsNegativeRelationConclusionCommunistTestedCorrectnessCommunist PartyNegative Experiences
Author:Mao Zedong
Create image

“In order to build a great socialist society it is of the utmost importance to arouse the broad masses of women to join in productive activity. Men and women must receive equal pay for equal work in production. Genuine equality between the sexes can only be realized in the process of the socialist transformation of society as a whole.”

MenWholeOrderSexProcessPayActivityEqualMassMen And WomenImportanceTransformationProductionsGenuineProductiveBroadsSocialistEqual Pay
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
Create image

“The masses in any given place are generally composed of three parts, the relatively active, the intermediate and the relatively backward. The leaders must therefore be skilled in uniting the small number of active elements around the leadership and must rely on them to raise the level of the intermediate elements and to win over the backward elements.”

ThreeWinningGivenLevelsNumbersLeaderElementsMassRaisesActiveRelySmall NumbersUniting
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
Create image

“We must help all our young people to understand that ours is still a very poor country, that we cannot change this situation radically in a short time, and that only through the united efforts of our younger generation and all our people, working with their own hands, can China be made strong and prosperous within a period of several decades. The establishment of our socialist system has opened the road leading to the ideal society of the future, but to translate this ideal into reality needs hard work.”

PeopleNeedsMadeStillsCountryHardHelpingHandsRealityYoungStrongPoorUnitedEffortSituationGenerationsHard WorkPeriodsIdealsChinaDecadesEstablishmentTranslateSocialistProsperousShort TimeYounger GenerationPoor CountriesIdeal Society
Author:Mao Zedong
Create image

“So long as a person who has made mistakes . . . honestly and sincerely wishes to be cured and to mend his ways, we should welcome him and cure his sickness so that he can become a good comrade. We can never succeed if we just let ourselves go and lash at him.”

IfsWayShouldPersonsLongMadeWishMistakeSucceedHonestlyWelcomeCuresSicknessSincerelyMade A MistakeComradeLashes
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
Create image

“The officers do not beat the men; the officers and men receive equal treatment. Soldiers are free to hold meetings and speak out. Trivial formalities have been done away with and the accounts are open for all to inspect.”

MenHas BeensDoneSpeakHe ManEqualBeatsAccountsMeetingsSoldierTreatmentOfficersSpeaks OutHold MeFormalityEqual Treatment
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
Create image

“The most effective method of propaganda directed at the enemy forces is to release captured soldiers and give the wounded medical treatment... Whenever soldiers of enemy forces are captured, we immediately conduct propaganda among them...This immediately knocks the bottom out of the enemy's slander that the Communist bandits kill everyone on sight.”

GivingForceEnemySightMethodBottomSoldierMedicalReleasePropagandaTreatmentCommunistWoundedCapturedSlanderBanditsMedical Treatment
Author:Mao Zedong
Create image