In Russia religion is the opium of the people; in China opium is the religion of the people.

I doubt very much if Mao would ever command great respect from the intellectual élite of China, perhaps not entirely because he has an extraordinary mind, but because he has the personal habits of a peasant.

It is impossible not to recognise the Long March as one of the great triumphs of men against odds and men against nature. While the Red Army was unquestionably in forced retreat, its toughened veterans reached their planned objective with moral and political will as strong as ever... Their conviction had helped turn what might have been a terrible defeat into an arrival in triumph.

In Russia religion is the opium of the people; in China opium is the religion of the people.

There seemed to be nothing in Mao that might be called religious feeling; his judgments were reached, I believe, on the basis of reason and necessity. Because of this I think he has probably on the whole been a moderating influence in the Communist movement where life and death are concerned.

Mao appears to be quite free from symptoms of megalomania, but he has a deep sense of personal dignity, and something about him suggests a power of ruthless decision when he deems it necessary.

Do not suppose, first of all, that Mao Tse-tung could be the "saviour" of China. Nonsense. There will never be one "saviour" of China. Yet undeniably you feel a certain force of destiny in him.