What should our policy be towards non-Marxist ideas? As far as unmistakable counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs of the socialist cause are concerne… - Mao Zedong

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What should our policy be towards non-Marxist ideas? As far as unmistakable counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs of the socialist cause are concerned, the matter is easy, we simply deprive them of their freedom of speech. But incorrect ideas among the people are quite a different matter. Will it do to ban such ideas and deny them any opportunity for expression? Certainly not. It is not only futile but very harmful to use crude methods in dealing with ideological questions among the people, with questions about man's mental world. You may ban the expression of wrong ideas, but the ideas will still be there. On the other hand, if correct ideas are pampered in hothouses and never exposed to the elements and immunized against disease, they will not win out against erroneous ones. Therefore, it is only by employing the method of discussion, criticism and reasoning that we can really foster correct ideas and overcome wrong ones, and that we can really settle issues.

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About Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong (or Mao Tse-tung in Wade-Giles; Simplified Chinese: 毛泽东; Traditional Chinese: 毛澤東; December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976) was the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1943 until his death. He was also a founder of the People's Republic of China.

Also Known As

Native Name: 毛泽东 毛澤東
Alternative Names: Mao Tse-tung Mao Ze Dong Maozedong Tse Toung Mao Mau Tzerdong Máo Zédōng Mau Zeh-ton Máu Zéh-ton Mô Chhe̍t-tûng Mo Chhet-tung Mao² Tsê²-tung¹ Mou Zaak-dung Mo Tek-tong Mô͘ Te̍k-tong Moo Tik-tang Môo Ti̍k-tang Rùnzhī Jun-chih Jeon-zi Máo Zhǔxí Mao Chairman Mao Mau Zerdong Mao Zédong Mouh Jaahk-dung Lun-chi Mao Runzhi Mao Jun-chih Máo Rùnzhī Chairman Mao Zedong Mao Tsê-tung

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Additional quotes by Mao Zedong

对于反动阶级和反动派的人们,在他们的政权被推翻以后,只要他们不造反,不破坏,不捣乱,也给土地,给工作,让他们活下去,让他们在劳动中改造自己,成为新人。他们如果不愿意劳动,人民的国家就要强迫他们劳动。也对他们做宣传教育工作,并且做得很用心,很充分,像我们对俘虏军官们已经做过的那样。这也可以说是“施仁政”吧,但这是我们对于原来是敌对阶级的人们所强迫地施行的,和我们对于革命人民内部的自我教育工作,不能相提并论。

However, we must make a concrete study of the circumstances of each specific struggle of opposites and should not arbitrarily apply the formula discussed above to everything. Contradiction and struggle are universal and absolute, but the methods of resolving contradictions, that is, the forms of struggle, differ according to the differences in the nature of the contradictions. Some contradictions are characterized by open antagonism, others are not. In accordance with the concrete development of things, some contradictions which were originally non-antagonistic develop into antagonistic ones, while others which were originally antagonistic develop into non-antagonistic ones.

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"I am not sure I can handle it." We often hear this remark when a comrade hesitates to accept an assignment. Why is he unsure of himself? Because he has no systematic understanding of the content and circumstances of the assignment, or because he has had little or no contact with such work, and so the laws governing it are beyond him. After a detailed analysis of the nature and circumstances of the assignment, he will feel more sure of himself and do it willingly. If he spends some time at the job and gains experience and if he is a person who is willing to look into matters with an open mind and not one who approaches problems subjectively, one-sidedly and superficially, then he can draw conclusions for himself as to how to go about the job and do it with much more courage. Only those who are subjective, one-sided and superficial in their approach to problems will smugly issue orders or directives the moment they arrive on the scene, without considering the circumstances, without viewing things in their totality (their history and their present state as a whole) and without getting to the essence of things (their nature and the internal relations between one thing and another). Such people are bound to trip and fall.

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