I am alone with the masses. — Mao Zedong

Learn from the masses, and then teach them. — Mao Zedong

Be pupils of the masses as well as their teachers. — Mao Zedong

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

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. — Mao Zedong

I have witnessed the tremendous energy of the masses. On this foundation it is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever. — Mao Zedong

To link oneself with the masses, one must act in accordance with the needs and wishes of the masses. — Mao Zedong

At the beginning of anything out of the ordinary, the mass of the people always dislike it. — Mao Zedong

Communists should set an example in study; at all times they should be pupils of the masses as well as their teachers. — Mao Zedong

Communists should be the most farsighted, the most self–sacrificing, the most resolute, and the least prejudiced in sizing up situations, and should rely on the majority of the masses and win their support. — Mao Zedong

Take the ideas of the masses and concentrate them, then go to the masses, persevere in the ideas and carry them through, so as to form correct ideas of leadership–such is the basic method of leadership. — Mao Zedong

Every Communist working in the mass movements should be a friend of the masses and not a boss over them, an indefatigable teacher and not a bureaucratic politician. — Mao Zedong

The Chinese people have stood up. — Mao Zedong

All the rest of the world uses the word electricity. They’ve borrowed the word from English. But we Chinese have our own word for it! — Mao Zedong

The arrow of Marxist–Leninism must be used to hit the target of the Chinese Revolution. — Mao Zedong

Don’t make a fuss about a world war. At most, people die… Half the population wiped out–this happened quite a few times in Chinese history… It’s best if half the population is left, next best one–third. — Mao Zedong

Even though I believe we should promote Chinese medicine, I personally do not believe in it. I don’t take Chinese medicine. — Mao Zedong

We are firmly convinced that private capital, Chinese as well as foreign, must be given liberal opportunities for broad development in postwar China; for China needs industrial growth. — Mao Zedong

Without an army for the people, there is nothing for the people. — Mao Zedong

An army of the people is invincible! — Mao Zedong

The people are like water and the army is like fish. — Mao Zedong

An army without culture is a dull–witted army, and a dull–witted army cannot defeat the enemy. — Mao Zedong

The Red Army is like a furnace in which all captured soldiers are melted down and transformed the moment they come over. — Mao Zedong

All counter–revolutionary wars are unjust, all revolutionary wars are just. — Mao Zedong

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

It is impossible for a genuine people’s revolution in any country to win victory without various forms of help from the international revolutionary forces. — Mao Zedong

It is right to rebel against reactionaries. — Mao Zedong

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. — Mao Zedong

Whoever has an army has power and that war decides everything. — Mao Zedong

The contest of strength is not only a contest of military and economic power, but also a contest of human power and morale. Military and economic power is necessarily wielded by people. — Mao Zedong

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. — Mao Zedong

We stand for self–reliance. We hope for foreign aid but cannot be dependent on it; we depend on our own efforts, on the creative power of the whole army and the entire people. — Mao Zedong

People who try to commit suicide–don’t attempt to save them! . . . China is such a populous nation, it is not as if we cannot do without a few people. — Mao Zedong

Today the whole world depends on communism for its salvation, and China is no exception. — Mao Zedong

Look at World War II, at Hitler’s cruelty. The more cruelty, the more enthusiasm for revolution. — Mao Zedong

As far as world war goes, there are really only two possibilities: either war provokes revolution, or revolution averts war. — Mao Zedong

Not just in China, but everywhere in the world without exception, one either leans to the side of imperialism or the side of socialism. Neutrality is mere camouflage; a third road does not exist. — Mao Zedong

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. — Mao Zedong

If there were no contradictions and no struggle, there would be no world, no process, no life, and there would be nothing at all. — Mao Zedong

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

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

Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party. — Mao Zedong

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. — Mao Zedong

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. — Mao Zedong

Our stand is that of the proletariat and of the masses. For members of the Communist Party, this means keeping to the stand of the Party, keeping to Party spirit and Party policy. — Mao Zedong

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. — Mao Zedong

History shows that wars are divided into two kinds–just and unjust. All wars that are progressive are just, and all wars that impede progress are unjust. — Mao Zedong

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. — Mao Zedong

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