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Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong Quotes

Former Chairman of the Communist Party of China

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Famous Mao Zedong Quotes

“Return to Shaoshan I regret the passing, the dying, of the vague dream: my native orchards thirty-two years ago. Yet red banners roused the serfs, who seized three-pronged lances when the warlords raised whips in their black hands. We were brave and sacrifice was easy and we asked the sun, the moon, to alter the sky. Now I see a thousand waves of beans and rice and am happy. In the evening haze heroes are coming home.”

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Author:Mao Zedong
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“All the reputedly powerful reactionaries are merely paper tigers. The reason is that they are divorced from the people. Look! Was not Hitler a paper tiger? Was Hitler not overthrown? U.S. imperialism has not yet been overthrown and it has the atomic bomb. I believe it also will be overthrown. It, too, is a paper tiger.”

PeopleBelieveLooksReasonI BelievePowerfulPowerPaperBombsTigersImperialismDivorcedReactionariesAtomic Bomb
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“There are some militarists who say: ‘We are not interested in politics but only in the profession of arms.’ It is vital that these simple-minded militarists be made to realize the relationship that exists between politics and military affairs. Military action is a method used to attain a political goal. While military affairs and political affairs are not identical, it is impossible to isolate one from the other.”

MadeActionPoliticalUsedGoalRealizingSimpleImpossibleMilitaryArmsMethodAffairProfessionNot InterestedIdenticalMilitary Action
Author:Mao Zedong
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“Swlmmlng After swallowing some water at Changsha I taste a Wuchang fish in the surf and swim across the Yangtze River that winds ten thousand li. I see the entire Chu sky. Wind batters me, waves hit me-I don't care. Better than walking lazily in the patio. Today I have a lot of time. Here on the river the Master said "Dying-dying into the past-is like a river flowing."”

SaidCareTodayPastWaterSkyDyingWindMastersWalkingTasteThousandTenRiversWaveFishesDon't CareI Don't CareSwimSurfSwallowing
Author:Mao Zedong
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“Saying Good-bye to the God of Disease (1) Mauve waters and green mountains are nothing when the great ancient doctor Hua To could not defeat a tiny worm. A thousand villages collapsed, were choked with weeds, men were lost arrows. Ghosts sang in the doorway of a few desolate houses. Yet now in a day we leap around the earth or explore a thousand Milky Ways. And if the cowherd who lives on a star asks about the god of plagues, tell him, happy or sad, the god is gone, washed away in the waters. July 1, 1958”

IfsMenWayLifeEarthAsksHouseLostStarsWaterGoneThousandMountainDiseaseDoctorsGreenDefeatAncientTinyGhostLeapVillageWeedWormsPlagueArrowsJulyByeDoorwaysGood ByeDesolateSaying Good ByeMilky Way
Book:The Poems of Mao Zedong
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“Rivers and mountains are beautiful and made heroes bow and compete to catch the girl- lovely earth. Yet the emperors Shih Huang and Wu Ti were barely able to write. The first emperors of the Tang and Sung dynasties were crude. Genghis Khan, man of his epoch and favored by heaven, knew only how to hunt the great eagle. They are all gone. Only today are we men of feeling.”

MenWritingFirstsMadeFeelingsTodayAbleEarthBeautifulGirlHeavenGoneHeroMountainRiversLovelyBowsHuntsEaglesEmperorCrudeEpochDynastyRivers And Mountains
Author:Mao Zedong
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“Capture of Nanking Rain and a windstorm rage blue and yellow over Chung the bell mountain as a million peerless troops cross the Great River. The peak is a coiled dragon, the city a crouching tiger more dazzling than before. The sky is spinning and the earth upside down. We are elated yet we must use our courage to chase the hopeless enemy. We must not stoop to fame like the overlord Hsiang Yu. If heaven has feeling it will grow old and watch our seas turn into mulberry fields.”

IfsUseFeelingsEarthTurnsHeavenGrowsCitiesEnemyWatchesMillionsCourageSeaSkyFieldsFameMountainRainRiversCrossesBlueRageDragonsHopelessCaptureYellowBellsTroopsTigersSpinningUpside DownDazzlingStoopsMulberryBlue And Yellow
Author:Mao Zedong
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“The Long March The Red Army is not afraid of hardship on the march, the long march. Ten thousand waters and a thousand mountains are nothing. The Five Sierras meander like small waves, the summits of Wumeng pour on the plain like balls of clay. Cliffs under clouds are warm and washed below by the River Gold Sand. Iron chains are cold, reaching over the Tatu River. The far snows of Minshan only make us happy and when the army pushes through, we all laugh. October 1935”

LongHappinessWaterLaughingFiveColdThousandTenMountainLaughterRedRiversGoldBallsArmyCloudsWaveWarmSnowChainsReachingSandIronMarchHardshipNot AfraidClaySummitCliffsOctoberSierraRed Army
Book:The Poems of Mao Zedong
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“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?”

IfsMenLongHandsTodayStarsSkyWindWallThousandMountainSixRedTwentiesWestSouthFingersSevenCloudsCirclesTiesDragonsGrayRopeSummitGeeseRippleBannerDazzlingVanishingTrue ManWild Geese
Book:The Poems of Mao Zedong
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“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?”

MenYearsWholeEarthTurnsPassionThreeWhiteMillionsSunSkyColorJudgingThousandMountainSummerSpringRiversFishesMonstersSnowAccomplishmentHeatDragonsFloodGlobesThousand YearsSoarFreezeTurtlesJadeSummer Sun
Book:The Poems of Mao Zedong
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“On what basis should our policy rest? It should rest on our own strength, and that means regeneration through one's own efforts. We are not alone; all the countries and people in the world opposed to imperialism are our friends. Nevertheless, we stress regeneration through our own efforts. Relying on the forces we ourselves organize, we can defeat all Chinese and foreign reactionaries.”

PeopleWorldShouldMeanCountryForceEffortStrugglePolicyBasesStressDefeatChineseNeverthelessOrganizeSelf RelianceImperialismRelianceNot AloneReactionariesRegeneration
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“To win countrywide victory is only the first step in a long march of ten thousand li.... The Chinese revolution is great, but the road after the revolution will be longer, the work greater and more arduous. This must be made clear now in the Party. The comrades must be helped to remain modest, prudent and free from arrogance and rashness in their style of work. The comrades must be helped to preserve the style of plain living and hard struggle.”

FirstsLongMadeHardWinningPartyStepsStruggleClearGreaterStyleRevolutionVictoryThousandTenChinesePreservesArroganceMarchFirst StepsModestSelf RelianceReliancePrudentComradeRashnessChinese Revolution
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“The wealth of society is created by the workers, peasants and working intellectuals. If they take their destiny into their own hands, follow a Marxist-Leninist line and take an active attitude in solving problems instead of evading them, there will be no difficulty in the world which they cannot overcome.”

IfsWorldProblemHandsLinesWealthAttitudeDestinyStruggleOvercomingDifficultyWorkersActiveProblem SolvingSelf RelianceReliancePeasantsMarxist
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tsetung
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“The comrades throughout the Party must take all this fully into account and be prepared to overcome all difficulties with an indomitable will and in a planned way. The reactionary forces and we both have difficulties. But the difficulties of the reactionary forces are insurmountable because they are forces on the verge of death and have no future. Our difficulties can be overcome because we are new and rising forces and have a bright future.”

WayForcePartyStruggleOvercomingAccountsDifficultyPreparedRisingBe PreparedSelf RelianceRelianceComradeVergeReactionariesInsurmountableBright FutureIndomitableIndomitable Will
Book:Selected Works
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“New things always have to experience difficulties and setbacks as they grow. It is sheer fantasy to imagine that the cause of socialism is all plain sailing and easy success, without difficulties and setbacks or the exertion of tremendous efforts.”

GrowsCausesEasyEffortFantasyStruggleImagineDifficultySocialismImagine ThatNew ThingsSheerSailingSelf RelianceRelianceSetbackExertion
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“At certain times in the revolutionary struggle, the difficulties outweigh the favorable conditions and so constitute the principal aspect of the contradiction and the favorable conditions constitute the secondary aspect. But through their efforts the revolutionaries can overcome the difficulties step by step and open up a favorable new situation, thus a difficult situation yields place to a favorable one.”

CertainDifficultEffortSituationStepsStruggleConditionsAspectOvercomingDifficultyRevolutionaryContradictionYieldPrincipalSelf RelianceRelianceDifficult SituationsNew Situations
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“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.”

ProblemStruggleGreaterOvercomingDifficultySolveSelf RelianceRelianceComrade
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“Three Songs 1 Mountain. I whip my quick horse and don't dismount and look back in wonder. The sky is three feet away. 2 Mountain. The sea collapses and the river boils. Innumerable horses race insanely into the peak of battle. 3 Mountain. Peaks pierce the green sky, unblunted. The sky would fall but for the columns of mountains.”

LooksSongFallThreeRaceWonderSeaFeetSkyBattleMountainRiversHorseGreenCollapseColumnsWhipsPierceMountain Peaks
Book:The Poems of Mao Zedong
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“Soldiers are the foundation of an army; unless they are imbued with a progressive political spirit, and unless such a spirit is fostered through progressive political work, it will be impossible to achieve genuine unity between officers and men, impossible to arouse their enthusiasm for the War of Resistance to the full, and impossible to provide an excellent basis for the most effective use of all our technical equipment and tactics.”

MenWarUsePoliticalSpiritImpossibleAchieveBasesArmyFoundationUnitySoldierGenuineResistanceEnthusiasmExcellentRevolutionaryWorking ItProgressiveOfficersEquipmentTactics
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“The Gods on the death of his wife Yang Kai-hui I lost my proud poplar and you your willow As poplar and willow they soar straight up into the ninth heaven and ask the prisoner of the moon, Wu Kang' what is there. He offers them wine from the cassia tree. The lonely lady on the moon, Chang 0, spreads her vast sleeves and dances for these good souls in the unending sky. Down on earth a sudden report of the tiger's defeat. Tears fly down from a great upturned bowl of rain.”

SoulEarthAsksLostHeavenWifeTreeSkyTearsProudOffersMoonRainLonelyWineDefeatSpreadReportsPrisonerBowlsTigersSoarSleevesUnendingStraight UpYangGood Souls
Author:Mao Zedong
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“Saying Good-bye to the God of Disease (2) Thousands of willow branches in a spring wind. Six hundred million of China, land of the gods, and exemplary like the emperors Shun and Yao. A scarlet rain of peach blossoms turned into waves and emerald mountains into bridges. Summits touch the sky. We dig with silver shovels and iron arms shake the earth and the Three Rivers. God of plagues, where are you going? We burn paper boats and bright candles to light his way to heaven.”

WayLightEarthThreeHeavenMillionsSkyLandWindArmsMountainDiseasePaperSixSpringHundredRainRiversWaveChinaBoatBridgesBranchesShakesSilverIronCandlePlagueSummitEmperorByeGood ByePeachesScarletSaying Good ByeShovelsExemplaryEmeraldsPeach Blossoms
Book:The Poems of Mao Zedong
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