Mao Zedong Quotes

All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party.

Deaths have benefits. They can fertilise the ground.

Maybe you're afraid of sinking. Don't think about it. If you don't think about it, you won't sink. If you do, you will.

Civilize the mind but make savage the body.

All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

To Be Attacked by the Enemy Is Not a Bad Thing but a Good Thing.

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

Enable every woman who can work to take her place on the labour front, under the principle of equal pay for equal work.

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

We are indebted to Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin for giving us a weapon. The weapon is not a machine-gun, but Marxism-Leninism.

When the enemy advances, withdraw; when he stops, harass; when he tires, strike; when he retreats, pursue.

Don't wait untill problems pile up and cause a lot of trouble before trying to solve them. Leaders must march ahead the movement, not lag behind it.

Investigation may be likened to the long months of pregnancy, and solving a problem to the day of birth. To investigate a problem is, indeed, to solve it.

In waking a tiger, use a long stick.

The young people are the most active and vital force in society. They are the most eager to learn and the least conservative in their thinking. This is especially so in the era of socialism.

Firstly, do not fear hardship, and secondly, do not fear death.

When there is not enough to eat, people starve to death. It is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill.

Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy.

The revolutionary war is a war of the masses; it can be waged only by mobilizing the masses and relying on them.

Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting the progress of the arts and the sciences and a flourishing culture in our land.

Learn from the masses, and then teach them.

Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution.

Be resolute, fear no sacrifice, and surmount every difficulty to win victory.

Imperialism is a paper tiger.

To read too many books is harmful.

Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive one; it is man and not materials that counts.

Complacency is the enemy of study. We cannot really learn anything until we rid ourselves of complacency.

War can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.

The weeds of socialism are better than the crops of capitalism.

Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend.

We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.

If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it.

Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.

It's always darkest before it becomes totally black.

Long distance running is particularly good training in perseverance.

The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.

You can't solve a problem? Well, get down and investigate the present facts and [the problem's] past history! When you have investigated the problem thoroughly, you will know how to solve it.

Historical experience is written in blood and iron.

Oxford shirts. Definitely more oxford shirts.

An army without culture is a dull-witted army, and a dull-witted army cannot defeat the enemy.

Revolutionary war is an antitoxin which not only eliminates the enemy's poison but also purges us of our own filth.

In times of difficulty we must not lose sight of our achievements, must see the bright future and must pluck up our courage.

Dont give a child a fish but show him how to fish

People of the world, unite and defeat the U.S. aggressors and all their running dogs!

Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history; such is the history of civilization for thousands of years.

When guerillas engage a stronger enemy, they withdraw when he advances, harass him when he stops, strike him when he is weary, pursue him when he withdraws.

We can learn what we did not know. We are not only good at destroying the Old World, we are also good at building the new.

Look at World War II, at Hitler's cruelty. The more cruelty, the more enthusiasm for revolution.

Passivity is fatal to us. Our goal is to make the enemy passive.