Quotes from Mao Zedong

I voted for you during your last election.

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

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

A man's head is not like a scallion, which will grow again if you cut it off; if you cut it off wrongly, then even if you want to correct your error, there is no way of doing it.

Man must conquer nature.

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

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.

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.

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

It is a very good thing, and a significant one too, to exterminate the bourgeoisie and capitalism in China.

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

Historical experience is written in blood and iron.

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.

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

Despise Your enemy stragetically, but take him seriously tactically

The enemy will not perish of himself. Neither will the Chinese reactionaries nor the aggressive forces of U.S. imperialism in China step down from the stage of history of their own accord.

Revolution is a drama of passion. We did not win the people over by appealing to reason but by developing hope, trust, fraternity.

Learn from the masses, and then teach them.

Swollen in head, weak in legs, sharp in tongue but empty in belly.

All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

Despise the enemy strategically, but take him seriously tactically.

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.

The masses are the real heroes, while we ourselves are often childish and ignorant, and without this understanding, it is impossible to acquire even the most rudimentary knowledge.