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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

“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.”

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Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.”

IfsKnowsWantChangeKnowledgeLearningMilitaryTheoryRevolutionTasteEatingDirectMethodGenuinePearsKnowledge And ExperienceKnowledge ExperienceChinese Revolution
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help train us in perseverance. Long-distance running is particularly good training in perseverance.”

IfsLongHelpingRunningFormExerciseTrainingDistanceTrainPerseverancePursuedPersevereLong DistanceDistance RunningPerseverenceLong Distance Running
Book:Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49: V. 1: Pre-Marxist Period, 1912-20: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49
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“There is a serious tendency towards capitalism among the well-to-do peasants. This tendency will become rampant if we in the slightest way neglect political work among the peasants during the co-operative movement and for a very long period after.”

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Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“Winds flap the sail, tortoise and snake are silent, a great plan looms. A bridge will fly over this moat dug by heaven and be a road from north to south. We will make a stone wall against the upper river to the west and hold back steamy clouds and rain of Wu peaks. Over tall chasms will be a calm lake, and if the goddess of these mountains is not dead she will marvel at the changed world.”

IfsWorldHeavenSilencePlansChangedWindWallMountainRainRiversStonesSilentWestSouthCalmCloudsBridgesLakesTallGoddessSailSnakesChasmsTortoisesMoatsStone Walls
Book:The Poems of 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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“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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“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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“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.”

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Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tsetung
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“It is up to us to organize the people. As for the reactionaries in China, it is up to us to organize the people to overthrow them. Everything reactionary is the same; if you do not hit it, it will not fall. This is also like sweeping the floor; as a rule, where the broom does not reach, the dust will not vanish of itself.”

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Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“After the enemies with guns have been wiped out, there will still be enemies without guns; they are bound to struggle desperately against us, and we must never regard these enemies lightly. If we do nor now raise and understand the problem in this way, we shall commit the gravest mistakes.”

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Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“It will take a long period to decide the issue in the ideological struggle between socialism and capitalism in our country. The reason is that the influence of the bourgeoisie and of the intellectuals who come from the old society will remain in our country for a long time to come, and so will their class ideology. If this is not sufficiently understood, or is not understood at all, the gravest mistakes will be made and the necessity of waging the struggle in the ideological field will be ignored.”

IfsLongMadeCountryReasonMistakeClassStruggleIssuesInfluenceFieldsPeriodsLong TimeUnderstoodCapitalismSocialismOur CountryIdeologyIgnoredIdeologicalBourgeoisieClass StruggleClasses Of Society
Author:Mao Zedong
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“We Communists must be able to integrate ourselves with the masses in all things. If our Party members spend their whole lives sitting indoors and never go out to face the world and brave the storm, what good will they be to the Chinese people? None at all, and we do not need such people as Party members. We Communists ought to face the world and brave the storm the great world of mass struggle and the mighty storm of mass struggle.”

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Book:Selected Works: The period of the war of resistance against Japan (II)
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“Communists must listen attentively to the views of people outside the Party and let them have their say. If what they say is right, we ought to welcome it, and we should learn from their strong points; if it is wrong, we should let them finish what they are saying and then patiently explain things to them.”

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Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“We desire peace. However, if imperialism insists on fighting a war, we will have no alternative but to take the firm resolution to fight to the finish before going ahead with our construction. If you are afraid of war day in day out, what will you do if war eventually comes? First, I said that the East Wind is prevailing over the West Wind and war will not break out, and now I have added these explanations about the situation in case war should break out. Both possibilities have thus been taken into account.”

IfsShouldFirstsSaidWarDesireFightingPeaceSituationBreakCasesTakenPossibilityWindAccountsWestEastAlternativesFirmExplanationResolutionConstructionImperialismBreak OutPrevailingUnjust War
Book:Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (The Little Red Book) & Other Works
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“Let's contemplate this, how many people would die if war breaks out. There are 2.7 billion people in the world. One-third could be lost; or, a little more, it could be half... I say that, taking the extreme situation, half dies, half lives, but imperialism would be razed to the ground and the whole world would become socialist.”

PeopleIfsWorldLittlesWarWholeWould BeDiesLostHalfSituationBreakThirdsExtremesBillionsWhole WorldContemplatingSocialistImperialismBreak OutHalf Life
Author:Mao Zedong
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