“There is in fact no such thing as art for art’s sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics. Proletarian literature and art are part of the whole proletarian revolutionary cause.”

Learn from the masses, and then teach them.

Once all struggle is grasped, miracles are possible.

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

Political work is the life-blood of all economic work.

He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.

All reactionaries are paper tigers.

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

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution.

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

There is a serious tendency toward capitalism among the well-to-do peasants.

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.

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

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

A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery.

Women hold up half the sky.

Most people are such fools that it is really no great compliment to say that someone is above the average.

Everything above and below is one unity.

Her earth is rich, yet the products that come from above and below the soil continue to enrich, not Africans predominantly, but groups and individuals who operate to Africa’s impoverishment.

Knowledge is, indeed, that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another.

Over and above communication and vigilance, there are two factors I have always mentioned. They are sleep, and a sense of history.

In England Parliament is above the law. In America the law is above Congress.

The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss.

I think the British have the distinction above all other nations of being able to put new wine into old bottles without bursting them.