Sayings of Mao Zedong. The most famous quotes of Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong is one of the most brutal rulers not only of China, but of the whole world. It is not for nothing that he is often put on a par with Stalin. In addition to their adherence to the Marxist-Leninist doctrine, they have in common the incredibly tough management of the country. Under his rule, China was completely transformed into a socialist state, and this transition was far from painless. He interpreted Marxist ideology quite creatively, which led to the fact that its Chinese version began to be called Maoism. Quotes from Mao Zedong, published as a separate book during his lifetime, give a complete picture of the personality of this ruler and his view of the communist way of organizing the state.

The beginning of the way

Mao Zedong was born into a wealthy peasant family in 1893. He received a classical Chinese education at school. Then he served in the army during the 1911 revolution, after which he entered a pedagogical school. In 1918, Mao created the New People society. His goal was to find ways to transform China. It was at this time that the future becomes acquainted with the Marxist-Leninist ideology, which determined the fate of Mao Zedong and the entire country.

Thanks to his active work, Mao Zedong quickly became an influential political figure. In 1921 he became the main delegate and in 1923 he joined the nationalist Kuomintang party. Throughout his entire journey before Mao came to power, Mao had a rather contradictory relationship with this organization: almost immediately he had political disagreements with its leader Chiang Kai-shek, and soon Mao Zedong separated from the Kuomintang, joining the far-left movement of the CPC. However, the invasion of China by Japan in 1936 forced the warring parties to reconcile for a time.

Rise to power

During the war with Japan, Mao Zedong paid much more attention to strengthening his political positions among the peasantry. He actively led the purge program and wrote a series of articles in which he determined that the Chinese version of communism was focused on the peasantry, and not on the urban working class. With the end of the war, the truce with the Kuomintang also ended. Fierce clashes between parties resulted in a bloody civil war, which ended with the defeat of the Kuomintang, its flight to Taiwan and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Mao Zedong (PRC): the path to happiness along the beaten path of the USSR

The United States, which supported Chiang Kai-shek, refused to recognize Mao Zedong's new republic, unlike the Soviet Union. A treaty of mutual assistance and friendship was signed between the countries in 1950. Purges, collectivization, five-year plans, “catch up and overtake” - everything that was characteristic of the period of Stalin’s repressions in the USSR has now visited China. After Stalin's death, Mao Zedong became the most influential communist leader in the world, in every possible way encouraging the increasingly developing cult of his personality. However, it soon became clear that the policy of the forced “Great Leap Forward” was not producing tangible results. The standard of living of the peasantry fell sharply, inflation increased, and production volumes decreased. Famine began in the country.

Cultural Revolution

In the 60s, active persecution of dissidents began in China. According to the established scheme, the signal shot was Yao Wenyun’s article “On the new edition of the historical drama “The Demotion of Hai Rui.” The Chinese historian Wu Han was accused of anti-socialism and criticism of the political methods of the ruling party. After this, a series of bloody repressions began. Mao’s supporters relied on the most grateful for such target audience - immature youth, from which the Red Guard detachments were formed. Thousands of people were killed as a result of this “cultural revolution”, hundreds of thousands were expelled from the country, even more fled. Many were forced to commit suicide. And it was at this time that the famous “Quote Book” was published "- a book in which Mao Zedong most fully reveals his views on government and much more.

New Bible for communists

A collection of key sayings by Mao Zedong was released by the government in 1966. Its circulation was so large that it can only be compared with the circulation of sacred books - the Koran, the Bible or the Torah. In fact, almost religious worship of this publication was not only welcomed, but also implied by Mao’s supporters. The first translation from Chinese into Russian of quotes by Chairman Mao Zedong was made in 1967. It contains excerpts from articles and speeches of the Great Helmsman. In the Western translation, this work has the somewhat ironic name “The Little Red Book”, since it was the pocket edition that became most widespread - so that you can always carry it with you. The translation from Chinese into Russian sounded much more detailed: “A collection of excerpts from the works of Chairman Mao Zedong.” The book was even translated into Esperanto.

Quotes from Mao Zedong - to the masses

To study this collection, special circles were organized, meeting even during working hours. It was believed that after such classes the employee would cope with his responsibilities much more effectively. At every step there were posters depicting people holding the “Quote Book” in their hands. In the guide to reading this book, the leitmotif is two words - study and apply. It was recommended to learn the main sayings by heart. It was necessary to regularly include quotes from Mao Zedong in newspaper articles, and highlight them in bold type so that no one would doubt their authorship.

The most striking statements

Basically, Mao Zedong's quotes touch on the topic of the political struggle of socialism with capitalism. He considered American imperialism to be the main enemy of free humanity. Calling him a paper tiger, Mao called on the peoples of the whole world to unite in the fight against him. His theory about the third world war is interesting. He makes it clear that, despite condemning the possibility of unleashing another world conflict, he will only benefit if it occurs. After all, after the First World War the Soviet Union was born with a population of 200 million people, after the Second World War a whole socialist camp was born, and that’s already 900 million. After the Third, he hoped that the whole world would come to socialism.

Also in the “Quote Book” you can find statements of a more general nature, although their share is significantly less than attacks against imperialism. For example, such a philosophical judgment: “What is thinkable, exists” is a rehash of Descartes’ famous aphorism. Or the insightful view that politics is war without bloodshed, and war is politics with bloodshed.

In general, the quotes from Mao Zedong given in the “little red book” give a fairly complete idea of ​​what kind of person the Great Helmsman was. You won’t find any special revelations in it, but perhaps from a historical point of view it will be interesting to get acquainted with them.

A great Chinese politician and statesman, also the main theoretician of Maoism. During his reign, brutal repressions were carried out. Mao Zedong's quotes show him as a person who will fight to the end, no matter what.

The best quote from Mao Zedong according to the site:

● When trying to wake up the tiger, use a long stick.

● — Revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery.
— Revolution is not a dinner party, writing an essay, painting a picture or doing embroidery.

● All opponents of progress are paper tigers.

● Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer with which it is convenient to crush enemies.

● As a strategist, despise the enemy; as a tactician, take him seriously.

● Give the right to every woman who is able to work to take her place in the workforce, in accordance with the principle of equal pay for equal work.

● True equality between men and women can only be realized through the process of socialist transformation of society as a whole.

● In general, any form of physical activity, if followed continuously, helps us develop perseverance. Long-distance running is a particularly good trainer for developing persistence.

● In times of difficulty, we must not lose sight of our achievements.

● The study is comparable to the long months of pregnancy, and the solution to the problem is a birthday. Therefore, in order to study the problem, it must be solved.

● — Learn from everyone, and then teach them.
— Learn from everyone, and then teach everyone.

● Let all flowers bloom, let all schools compete

● One day the struggle will take over everything and miracles will begin.

● Passivity is detrimental to us. Our goal is to make the enemy passive.

● People like me sound like a lot of big guns.

● Political power grows from the barrel of a gun.

● Political work is the lifeblood of all economic work.

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

● Bloated in the head, weak in the legs, sharp on the tongue, but empty inside.

● The atomic bomb is a paper tiger that the reactionaries of the United States use to scare people. It looks terrible, but it really isn't.

● The main responsibility of management is to identify the main contradictions at each point in the historical process and develop central lines for its solution.

● Differences between friends cannot but strengthen their friendship.

● The partisan must move among people like a fish swims in the sea.

● There is a serious trend towards capitalism among well-off peasants.

● We must heal our wounds, bury our dead and continue the fight.

● Women occupy half the sky.

This page contains all quotes from Mao Zedong.

Mao Zedong - the creator of Chinese communism For himself, Mao Zedong left one golden rule - “no rules.”
Quotes from Mao Zedong are cruel, harsh, without compromise, just like the ruler himself.

As soon as humanity destroys capitalism, it will enter an era of eternal peace, and then it will no longer need wars. Then there will be no need for armies, warships, warplanes and toxic substances. Then humanity will never see war forever.

Every generation must have its own war.

If your broom isn't too long, don't try to sweep too far.

The intelligentsia is the most ignorant part of society.

The most civilized people are illiterate people.

If you want peace, prepare for war.

In order to overthrow this or that political power, it is always necessary, first of all, to prepare public opinion, to do work in the field of ideology. This is what revolutionary classes do, and this is what counter-revolutionary classes do.

No matter how many books you read, you will not become an emperor.

The head is not an onion; if you cut it, a new one will not grow.

I approve of this slogan: “Don’t be afraid of difficulties, don’t be afraid of death.”

What is conceivable is feasible.

Everyone is destined to die, but not every death has the same meaning.

A person who has felt the wind of change should build not a shield from the wind, but a windmill.

If you think you can, you can, if you think you can’t, you’re right.

It is better to be under pressure from your enemies than to be in a state where your enemies do not consider it necessary to bother themselves with this.

If you need to shit, shit, if you want to fart, fart! After this you will feel better.

Without destruction there is no creation. Destruction is criticism, it is revolution. Destruction requires clarification of the truth, and clarification of the truth is creation.

After this you will feel better. A person who has felt the wind of change should not build a shield from the wind, but a windmill.

If a person in his work is guided only by impulses and is not interested in the question of results, then he will be like a doctor who only writes prescriptions, but who does not care how many people died as a result of his treatment.

Everything that the enemy fights against, we must support, and everything that the enemy supports, we must fight against.

The enemy will not disappear on its own.

Poverty motivates change, action, revolution.

Mao Tse-Tung

Quotation book

I approve of this slogan: “Don’t be afraid of difficulties, don’t be afraid of death.”

It is necessary to work with exceptional diligence. Exceptional meticulousness is required, negligence is unacceptable, it often leads to mistakes.

Let them not touch us, and we will not touch them, and if they touch us, we will not remain in debt.

Without destruction there is no creation. Destruction is criticism, it is revolution. Destruction requires clarification of the truth, and clarification of the truth is creation.

What is conceivable is feasible.

American imperialism kills people of foreign countries, it also kills whites and blacks of its own country.

American imperialism seems huge, but in fact it is a paper tiger and is making its dying attempts.

Peoples of the whole world, unite and defeat the American aggressors and all their henchmen!

This army always moves forward fearlessly. She is determined to defeat any enemy, but she herself will never submit to the enemy.

The People's Liberation Army has always been and will be a fighting force. Even after victory in the entire country, it will remain a fighting force for an entire historical period, until classes are destroyed in the country and the imperialist system exists in the world. There should be no misunderstanding or hesitation here.

A communist must be sincere, devoted and active, the interests of the revolution must be more dear to him than life, he must subordinate his personal interests to the interests of the revolution; always and everywhere he must defend correct principles, wage a tireless struggle against all wrong views and actions, and thereby strengthen collectivism in the life of the party and the connection between the party and the masses; he must care about the interests of the party and the masses more than about his own interests,

care about others more than about yourself. Only such a person deserves to be called a communist.

We stand for active ideological struggle, since it is a weapon with the help of which internal unity of the party and other revolutionary organizations is achieved, ensuring their combat effectiveness. Every communist, every revolutionary must use this weapon.

The enemy will not disappear on its own.

In the course of our struggle, we will put an end once and for all to the feudal oppression that has existed for thousands of years and the imperialist oppression that has lasted for over a hundred years.

In order to overthrow this or that political power, it is always necessary, first of all, to prepare public opinion, to do work in the field of ideology. This is what revolutionary classes do, and this is what counter-revolutionary classes do.

One-sidedness and narrow-mindedness must be avoided at all costs. It is necessary to advocate materialist dialectics, against metaphysics and scholasticism.

Imperialism and all reactionaries are paper tigers.

Communism is the integral ideology of the proletariat and at the same time it is a new social system. This ideology and this social system are different from any other ideology and from any other social system and are the most perfect, the most progressive, the most revolutionary, the most reasonable in the entire history of mankind. Feudal ideology and social system have already been handed over to the history museum. The ideology and social system of capitalism in one part of the world (in the USSR) have also already been put into a museum, but in other countries they are barely breathing, living their last days and will soon end up in a museum. And only the ideology and social system of communism, without knowing any barriers, spread with irresistible force throughout the world, experiencing its wonderful spring.

Reactionaries of all stripes strive to destroy the revolution through murder; they believe that the more people are killed, the smaller the forces of the revolution will be. However, in contrast to such reactionary, subjectivist desires, the fact is that the more reactionaries kill people, the greater the strength of the revolution, the closer the reaction is to destruction. This is an irresistible law.

The socialist system will ultimately replace the capitalist system - it is an objective law, independent of the will of people. No matter how the reactionaries try to slow down the forward movement of the wheel of history, the revolution will sooner or later happen and will inevitably win. The Chinese people have an expression that characterizes the actions of some fools: “When they lift a stone, they break their own legs.” Exactly like that

The reactionaries of various countries are fools. The repressions they carry out against revolutionary peoples can, in the end, only stimulate an even wider and more violent popular revolution. Didn’t all kinds of repressions of the Russian Tsar and Chiang Kai-shek against revolutionary peoples play such a stimulating role in relation to the great Russian revolution and the great Chinese revolution?

Anyone who seeks to profit at someone else's expense is sure to end badly!

If we talk about our desire, we do not want to fight for a single day. However, if circumstances force us to fight, then we are able to fight the war to the end.

The day will certainly come when American reactionaries will find that all the peoples of the world are against them.

I believe that the American people and the people of those countries that are threatened by US aggression must unite to fight against the advance of American reactionaries and their henchmen in various countries. Only by winning this struggle can a third world war be avoided, otherwise it is inevitable.

The atomic bomb is a paper tiger with which American reactionaries intimidate people; it seems scary in appearance, but in reality it is not scary at all. Of course, the atomic bomb is a weapon of mass destruction, but the outcome of the war is decided by the people, and not by one or two new types of weapons.

All reactionaries are paper tigers. Reactionaries look scary, but in reality they are not that strong. If we consider the issue from the point of view of a long period of time, then it is not the reactionaries who have the truly powerful power, but the people. On whose side was the real power in Russia before the February Revolution of 1917? Outwardly, it seemed that power was on the side of the tsar, but one gust of wind from the February Revolution was enough to sweep him away. In the end, power in Russia was on the side of the Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies. The king turned out to be just a paper tiger. Wasn't Hitler considered very strong in his time? But history has shown that he was a paper tiger. This is how it was with Mussolini, and this is how it was with Japanese imperialism. Conversely, the forces of the Soviet Union and the democracy- and freedom-loving peoples of various countries turned out to be much more powerful than people imagined.

The advantage is on our side, not on the side of the enemy.

After the victory in the Second World War, American imperialism, together with its henchmen in various countries, replaced fascist Germany, Italy and Japan and is frantically preparing a new world war, threatening the entire world. This reflects the extreme decay of the capitalist world and its fear of approaching destruction. This enemy is still strong, so all the revolutionary forces in every country must unite, the revolutionary forces in all countries must unite,

must create an anti-imperialist united front led by the Soviet Union and follow the right policies, otherwise victory is impossible. This enemy has a weak base, there is disintegration in his camp, he is cut off from the people, and he cannot get rid of the economic crisis, therefore, he can be defeated. It would be a great mistake to overestimate the forces of the enemy and underestimate the forces of the revolution.

One should oppose overestimation of the enemy's strength. So, for example, fear of American imperialism, fear of transferring hostilities to the territory of the Kuomintang areas, fear of eliminating the comprador-feudal system, dividing up landowners' lands and confiscating bureaucratic capital, fear of a long war, etc. - all this is wrong. World imperialism and the Chiang Kai-shek reactionary clique ruling in China are already rotten and have no prospects. We have reason to neglect them; We are confident and convinced that we will defeat all the internal and external enemies of the Chinese people. However, in each particular case, in each specific issue of struggle (whether it be military, political, economic or ideological struggle), in no case should one neglect the enemy, on the contrary, one must treat him with all seriousness and concentrate all forces in the battle with him, and Only in this way can victory be achieved. While correctly pointing out that in general, in a strategic sense, we need to neglect the enemy, we should by no means neglect the enemy in every particular case, in every specific issue. If we generally overestimate the strength of the enemy and, therefore, do not dare to overthrow him, do not dare to win victory, then we will make a right-wing opportunist mistake. If in each particular case, in each specific issue, we are not careful, we do not attach great importance to the art of struggle, we do not concentrate all our forces in battle, we do not pay attention to winning all the allies who need to be won (the middle peasants, independent artisans and small traders, the middle bourgeoisie, students, teachers, professors, ordinary intellectuals, ordinary civil servants, people of liberal professions and enlightened shenshi), then we will make a “leftist” opportunistic mistake.

On December 16, 1966, “Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong” were published in Beijing. Quotes from the “great helmsman” were ordered to be read constantly and to be known by heart; they were translated into all languages, including Esperanto. Maoism knew no half measures.

If you want peace, prepare for war
We are for the abolition of war, we do not need war, but war can only be destroyed through war. If you want there to be no rifles, take up a rifle.

Habit of frowning
For every task you need to force your brain to work. People say: “As soon as you frown, a plan is born in your head,” that is, thinking gives birth to wisdom. In order to get rid of such a widespread disease in our party as blindness, we must advocate for people to think, master the method of analyzing things and phenomena, and cultivate the habit of analysis.

Self-reliance
We are for self-reliance. We would like to receive help from outside, but we should not make ourselves dependent on it. We rely on our own efforts, on the creative forces of our entire army and all our people.

Main principle
Everything that the enemy fights against, we must support, and everything that the enemy supports, we must fight against.

Poverty as an opportunity
Among other features, China's population of six hundred million is noticeably distinguished by its poverty and backwardness. At first glance this is bad, but in fact it is good. Poverty motivates change, action, revolution. On a clean sheet of paper, without any blots, you can write the newest, most beautiful hieroglyphs, you can create the newest, most beautiful drawings.

Important to remember
The enemy will not disappear on its own.

Listen to the masses
If we launch an offensive when the masses have not yet awakened, it will be adventurism. If we force the masses to do what they do not want, the result will be inevitable defeat. If we stand still when the masses demand movement forward, then this will be right-wing opportunism.

I approve of this slogan: “Don’t be afraid of difficulties, don’t be afraid
of death".

It is necessary to work with exceptional diligence. Need
exceptional meticulousness, negligence is unacceptable, it is often
leads to errors.

Let them not touch us, and we will not touch, and if touched, we will not
we will remain in debt.

Without destruction there is no creation. Destruction is criticism, it is
revolution. Destruction requires finding out the truth, and finding out the truth and
there is creation.

What is conceivable is feasible.

American imperialism kills people of foreign countries, it kills
also whites and blacks of their own country.

American imperialism seems huge, but in fact it is
like a paper tiger and makes dying attempts.

Peoples of the whole world, unite and defeat the American
aggressors and all their minions!

This army always moves forward fearlessly. She's determined
defeat any enemy, but she herself will never submit to the enemy.

The People's Liberation Army has always been and will be a fighting force.
Even after victory throughout the country, it will remain a fighting force in
over the course of an entire historical period, until the country
classes will be destroyed, and the world will exist
imperialist system. There should be no misunderstandings here and
hesitation.

A communist must be sincere, devoted and active, interests
revolutions must be more precious to him than life, he must subjugate
personal interests to the interests of the revolution; always and everywhere he must
to defend the right principles, to wage a tireless struggle against all
wrong views and actions and thereby strengthen collectivism in
life of the party and the connection of the party with the masses; he should take care of
interests of the party and the masses more than their own interests,
care about others more than about yourself. Only such a person is worthy
be called a communist.

We stand for active ideological struggle, since it
is a weapon with which to achieve internal
unity of the party and other revolutionary organizations, ensuring their
combat effectiveness. Every communist, every revolutionary must
use this weapon.

The enemy will not disappear on its own.

In the course of our struggle we will put an end to feudalism once and for all.
oppression that has existed for thousands of years, and with imperialist oppression,
lasting over a hundred years.

To overthrow this or that political power, always
it is necessary first of all to prepare public opinion, to do
work in the field of ideology. This is how revolutionary classes act, this is how
Counter-revolutionary classes also arrive.

One-sidedness and narrow-mindedness must be avoided at all costs.
It is necessary to advocate materialist dialectics, against
metaphysics and scholasticism.

Imperialism and all reactionaries are paper tigers.

Communism is the integral ideology of the proletariat and at the same time -
this is a new social order. This ideology and this social system
different from any other ideology and from any other social
building and are the most perfect, the most progressive,
the most revolutionary, the most intelligent in all history
humanity. Feudal ideology and social system have already been handed over to
history museum. Ideology and social system of capitalism in one
parts of the world (in the USSR) have also already been put into museums, but in other countries they are barely
are breathing, living out their last days and will soon end up in a museum. But only
ideology and social system of communism, without knowing barriers, with
spread with irresistible force throughout the world, experiencing their
wonderful spring.

Reactionaries of all stripes seek to destroy the revolution by
murders, they believe that the more people are killed, the less
there will be forces of revolution. However, in contrast to such reactionary
subjectivist desires, the fact is that the more
reactionaries kill people, the greater the strength of the revolution, the closer to
death reaction. This is an irresistible law.

The socialist system will ultimately replace the capitalist one
system is an objective law, independent of the will of people. As if
the reactionaries did not try to slow down the forward movement of the wheel of history,
the revolution will happen sooner or later and will inevitably win. U
Chinese people there is an expression characterizing the actions of some
fools: “By lifting a stone, they will break their own legs.” Exactly like that
The reactionaries of various countries are fools. Repression carried out
them in relation to revolutionary peoples, in the end they can only
stimulate an even wider and more violent popular revolution.
Are all kinds of repressions of the Russian Tsar and Chiang Kai-shek against
revolutionary peoples did not play such a stimulating role in relation to
the great Russian revolution and the great Chinese revolution?

Anyone who seeks to profit at someone else's expense must
ends badly!

If we talk about our desire, then we do not want to fight a single
day. However, if circumstances force us to fight, then we are able
fight the war to the end.

The day will surely come when American reactionaries
will find that all the nations of the world are opposed to them.

I believe that the American people and the people of those countries who
threatened by aggression from the United States, must unite to fight
against the advance of American reactionaries and their henchmen in
various countries. Only by winning this fight can you avoid
a third world war, otherwise it is inevitable.

The atomic bomb is a paper tiger that the American
reactionaries intimidate people; in appearance he seems scary, but in reality
actually not scary at all. Of course, the atomic bomb is a weapon of mass
extermination, but the outcome of the war is decided by the people, and not by one or two new species
weapons.

All reactionaries are paper tigers. Reactionaries look scary
but in reality they are not that strong. If we consider the question
from the point of view of a long period of time, then a truly powerful force
It is not the reactionaries who possess it, but the people. Whose side was the real one on?
power in Russia before the February Revolution of 1917? Outwardly it seemed that
strength was on the side of the king, but one gust of the February wind
the revolution was enough to sweep him away. After all, the power is in
Russia was on the side of the Soviets of workers, peasants and soldiers
deputies. The king turned out to be just a paper tiger. Is it in your own time?
Hitler's time was not considered very strong? But history has shown that he
was a paper tiger. That's how it was with Mussolini, that's how it was
and with Japanese imperialism. Conversely, the forces of the Soviet Union and
loving democracy and freedom of the peoples of various countries turned out to be
much more powerful than people imagined.

The advantage is on our side, not on the side of the enemy.

After victory in World War II, American imperialism
along with his henchmen in various countries, came to replace
fascist Germany, Italy and Japan and is frantically preparing a new world war
war, threatens the whole world. This reflects extreme decay
capitalist world and its fear of approaching destruction. This
the enemy is still strong, so all the revolutionary forces in every country
must unite, the revolutionary forces of all countries must unite,
must create an anti-imperialist united front led by
Soviet Union and follow the correct policy, otherwise
victory is impossible. This enemy has a weak base, in his camp there is a
collapse, he is cut off from the people, and he cannot get rid of the economic
crisis, therefore, it can be overcome. It would be the biggest mistake
overestimate the forces of the enemy and underestimate the forces of the revolution.

One should oppose overestimation of the enemy's strength. For example,
fear of American imperialism, fear of military transfer
actions on the territory of the Kuomintang areas, fear of liquidation
comprador-feudal system, the implementation of the division of landowners
lands and confiscation of bureaucratic capital, fear of long-term
wars, etc. - all this is wrong. World imperialism and
the dominant Chiang Kai-shek reactionary clique in China are already rotten and
lacking prospects. We have reason to neglect them; we are confident and
are convinced that we will achieve victory over all internal and external
enemies of the Chinese people. However, in each particular case, in each
specific issue of struggle (be it military, political,
economic or ideological struggle) in no case can
neglect the enemy, on the contrary, you need to treat him with all
seriousness and concentrate all forces in the battle with him, and only in this way
this way you can win. Correctly pointing out that in general,
strategically we must neglect the enemy, we are by no means
must in each particular case, in each specific issue also
neglect the enemy. If we generally overestimate the enemy's strength and therefore
we do not dare to overthrow him, we do not dare to win victory, then we
Let's make a right-wing opportunistic mistake. If in each particular case,
in each specific issue we will not be careful, not
let's attach great importance to the art of wrestling, let's not
concentrate all our forces in battle, we will not pay attention to the fact
to conquer all the allies that need to be conquered (middle peasants,
independent artisans and small traders, the middle bourgeoisie,
students, teachers, professors, ordinary intellectuals, ordinary
civil servants, people of liberal professions and enlightened
Shenshi), then we will make a “leftist” opportunistic mistake.

In 1946, when Chiang Kai-shek launched an offensive against us,
many of our comrades and all our people were worried about whether we could
win the war. I was worried about this too. But we had confidence. IN
At that time, an American journalist with the surname came to Yan'an
Anna Louise Strong. In a conversation with her, I raised many questions: about Chan
Kai-shek, and about Hitler, and about Japan, and about the USA, and about the atomic bomb, etc. I
then said that all the so-called powerful reactionary forces are actually
in fact they are just paper tigers, because they are torn off
from the people. Look, wasn't Hitler a paper tiger? Is it with
wasn't he finished? I also said that the Russian Tsar was made of paper
tiger, Chinese emperor was a paper tiger, Japanese imperialism
was a paper tiger. After all, they were all finished. With American
imperialism is not over yet, it also has atomic bombs. But I
I think that it will also be finished, it is also paper
tiger Chiang Kai-shek was very strong in his time, his regular
the army numbered more than 4 million people. Then we were in
Yan'an. What was the population of Yan'an at that time? 7 thousand people.
How many troops did we have? A total of 900 thousand partisans, and they were
completely scattered in several dozen support bases, cut off
from each other Chiang Kai-shek. However, we said that Chiang Kai-shek is
nothing less than a paper tiger, and we will certainly defeat it. In the name of
fight against the enemy, for a long time we developed
such a concept that strategically we should despise everyone
enemies, and in tactical terms must give all enemies serious
attention, that is, in general we must certainly despise our enemies, and in
In each specific case, we must certainly give them serious
attention. If we do not despise our enemies in general, then we can commit
opportunistic mistakes. When Marx and Engels lived and there were all of them
two, they then already declared that capitalism throughout the world would
overthrown. However, in a specific case, in relation to each enemy in
separately, if we do not pay serious attention to it, we will commit
opportunistic mistakes. War can only be waged by individuals
operations, the enemy can be destroyed only piecemeal, factories can be
build only according to objects, a peasant can plow the land only according to
areas. The same can be said about food. From a strategy point of view
We don’t care about food: we are ready to eat all the food. But in a specific case,
when you eat, you swallow food in parts and cannot swallow it all at once
all the food from the table. This is what is called solving every issue in
separately, and in military literature this is called defeating the enemy
parts.

The imperialists, in addition to striving to find salvation for their fate in
repressions against the peoples of their countries and the peoples of the colonies and
semi-colonies still have hopes for war. However, what can they do?
count in war? Over the past half century, we have already experienced twice
world war. After the First World War, the Great
October socialist revolution in Russia. After World War II
wars in Eastern Europe and in the East, even more
revolutions. If the imperialist thugs decide to unleash a third
world war, then they will achieve no other results than
accelerating the complete destruction of the world capitalist system.

Nowadays, people all over the world are talking about
the possibility of a third world war. On this issue we
must be in a state of moral readiness and approach the matter
analytically. We stand firmly for peace and oppose war. However
if the imperialists do start a war, then even in this case we will not
you have to be afraid. Our approach to this issue is the same as to any
"unrest": firstly, we are against it, and secondly, we are not afraid. After
First World War, the Soviet Union emerged with a population of 200
million people; appeared after the Second World War
socialist camp covering 900 million people. Can
assert that if, in spite of everything, the imperialists unleash a third
world war, then as a result of the war hundreds of millions more people
will certainly go over to the side of socialism and under the rule of imperialism
only a small area will remain; complete collapse of the entire
imperialist system.

Imperialism has the appearance of power, but underneath it hides
rotten inside, since he does not enjoy the support of the people. People
the entire country and the peoples of the whole world, united together and carrying out full
preparations, will defeat any provocations of American imperialism.

If only the imperialists unleash a war of aggression, we, together with
the peoples of the whole world will certainly sweep them off the face of the earth!

The life of the imperialists cannot be very long, since
they only do bad things, they only support anti-people
reaction in various countries, captured a large number of colonies,
semi-colonies and military bases and threaten the world with atomic war. So
Thus, they force more than 90 percent of the world's population into
present or in the future to rise up in a common struggle against them. However
At present, the imperialists are still alive. They are still
rampage in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the Western world they
continue to oppress the masses of their countries. Need to change
such a situation. End the aggression and oppression of the imperialists,
mainly the American imperialists - this is the task of the peoples of all
peace.

The development of human society will ultimately... lead to
the destruction of war - this monstrous mutual extermination
humanity.

Fascists and imperialists want wars to last forever. What
As for us, we want to end wars in the near future.

As soon as humanity destroys capitalism, it will enter an era
eternal peace, and then he will no longer need war. Then you don't need
there will be armies, warships, warplanes and chemical agents.
Then humanity will never see war forever.

Just as all objects and phenomena in the world have an inherent
duality (this is the law of the unity of opposites),
imperialism and all reactionaries also have a duality - they
are both real and paper tigers. Last class
slave owners, the class of feudal landowners and the bourgeoisie before their conquest
power and for some time after its conquest were full
vital forces, were revolutionary and progressive, represented
like real tigers. In subsequent periods, due to the fact that slaves
the peasantry and the proletariat, which are their opposites,
gradually grew and became stronger, waged a struggle with them, which became more and more
became more aggravated, the class of slave owners, the class of feudal landowners and
the bourgeoisie gradually changed in the opposite direction and turned into
reactionaries, backward people, into paper tigers, who in the end
finally were overthrown or will be overthrown by the people. Similar
duality is inherent in reactionary, backward, decaying classes and
when the people enter into a life-and-death struggle with them.
On the one hand, they are real tigers, which
They devour people, and devour them by the millions, tens of millions.
The cause of the people's struggle is experiencing an era of great difficulties, on its way
there are many sharp turns and zigzags. In order to
overthrow the rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic
capitalism in China, it took the Chinese people over a hundred years,
had to sacrifice tens of millions of lives before he
won in 1949. Look, weren't we dealing here with
live, iron, real tigers? However, they eventually
turned into paper, dead, soy-curd tigers. This -
historical facts. Have you ever observed such facts or
hear about them? Yes, there are truly thousands and tens of thousands of them! Thousands and tens
thousands! Therefore, if we approach the issue on its merits, from the point of view
from a long-term perspective, from a strategic perspective, then
imperialism and all reactionaries should be considered as
they are actually paper tigers. This is based on
our strategic idea. At the same time they are alive,
like iron, real tigers, they devour people. On this
our tactical idea is based.

Our strategy is to fight one against ten,
Our tactic is to fight ten against one. This is one of
basic laws that ensure our victory over the enemy.
With small numbers we defeat large numbers - this is what we declare to the forces
dominating all of China. At the same time, in large numbers we
we defeat the small ones - this is how we declare to a separate part of the enemy, with
which we encounter on the battlefield.

We still have quite a few people like this who are considering
individual formulations taken from Marxist-Leninist literature,
as a ready-made miraculous panacea, believing that it is enough
acquire in order to cure all diseases without any difficulty. This -
ignorance of immature people. Among such people we must lead
educational work. Anyone who considers Marxism-Leninism
as religious dogma, is just such an ignorant person.
You need to tell someone like this straight out: your dogma is good for nothing. Marx,
Engels, Lenin, Stalin repeatedly repeated that their teaching is not a dogma,
but a guide to action. Dogmatists deliberately forget this
the most important position. Only then will the Chinese communists be able to
consider that they are connecting theory with practice if they
will be able to, based on Marxist-Leninist positions and applying
Marxist-Leninist approach and method, skillfully using the teachings of Lenin -
Stalin on the Chinese revolution, take a step forward and based on
serious study of the history and revolutionary reality of China
create theoretical works in all areas that meet the needs
China. You can preach in words for at least a hundred years the combination of theory with
practice, but if you do not connect theory with practice in practice, then from
such preaching will be of no use. Fighting against
subjective, one-sided approach, we must break dogmatism with its
subjectivity and one-sidedness.

If we take the sequence of movement of human cognition, then
it always gradually expands from the knowledge of the individual and
specific to knowledge of the general. People always know first
specific essence of many different phenomena and only then can
move on to generalization, to cognize the general essence of phenomena. Only after knowing
given common essence, guided by this common knowledge and in
further exploring various specific things that have not yet been
explored or explored shallowly, and having found their specific
essence, you can replenish, enrich and develop knowledge of this general
essence, without allowing this knowledge of the general essence to turn into
something ossified and dead.