To protect myself from the rear, I have to stand slantwise.

It is in the nature of things that some people should be unlucky enough to get their heads chopped off.

To be suspicious is not a fault. To be suspicious all the time without coming to a conclusion is the defect.

Creation, even when it is a mere outpouring from the heart, wishes to find a public. By definition, creation is sociable. Yet it can be satisfied with merely one single reader: an old friend, a lover.

Revolution is a bitter thing, mixed with filth and blood, not as lovely or perfect as the poets think. It is eminently down to earth, involving many humble, tiresome tasks, not so romantic as the poets think... . So it is easy for all who have romantic dreams about revolution to become disillusioned on closer acquaintance, when a revolution is actually carried out.

I entreat fresh visions from the painters. Be lavish with your vermilion to portray the mountains in the spring.

The world is changing from day to day; it is high time for our writers to take off their masks, look frankly, keenly, and boldly at life, and write about real flesh and blood. It is high time for a brand-new arena for literature, high time for some bold fighters to charge headlong into battle!