Quotes from Mo Yan

When I write, I try to represent the ordinary person in the pew, which means that, ironically, I'm qualified to write about prayer by being unqualified!

I know what real courage is, and I understand true compassion.

Possibly because I've lived so much of my life in difficult circumstances, I think I have a more profound understanding of life.

My works are Chinese literature, which is part of world literature. They show the life of Chinese people as well as the country's unique culture and folk customs.

When literature exists, perhaps we do not notice how important it is, but when it does not exist, our lives become coarsened and brutal. For this reason, I am proud of my profession, but also aware of its importance.

A writer should always bravely face life, risking death and mutilation in order to dethrone an emperor.

When someone forces me to do something I don't do it.

A writer should bury his thoughts deep and convey them through the characters in his novel.

Loneliness and hunger were my fortunes of creation.

For a country boy, poor as I was, whose constant worry was to be able to have enough to eat, the Army guaranteed one's survival.

A writer should express criticism and indignation at the dark side of society and the ugliness of human nature, but we should not use one uniform expression.

No person writes to win awards.

Some may want to shout on the street, but we should tolerate those who hide in their rooms and use literature to voice their opinions.

I think writers write for their consciences, they write for their own true audiences, for their souls.

I'll continue on the path I've been taking, feet on the ground, describing people's lives, describing people's emotions, writing from the standpoint of the ordinary people.

I heard so many stories from Gaomi's peasants that I had an irrepressible urge to write them down. Today, Gaomi's peasants know that they have become famous around the world through my writings, but I think they are a little puzzled by this.

I think that China has many outstanding authors, and their great works should also be recognised by the world.

One of the biggest problems in literature is the lack of subtlety.

I heard so many stories from Gaomi's peasants that I had an irrepressible urge to write them down. Today, Gaomi's peasants know that they have become famous around the world through my writings, but I think they are a little puzzled by this.

I know what real courage is, and I understand true compassion.

Finally, she mused that human existence is as brief as the life of autumn grass, so what was there to fear from taking chances with your life?

People who are strangers to liquor are incapable of talking about literature.

Where there's life, death is inevitable. Dying's easy; it's living that's hard. The harder it gets, the stronger the will to live. And the greater the fear of death, the greater the struggle to keep on living.

A writer writes what he knows, in ways that are natural to him.