We should never pretend to know what we don't know, we should not feel ashamed to ask and learn from people below, and we should listen carefully to the views of the cadres at the lowest levels. Be a pupil before you become a teacher; learn from the cadres at the lower levels before you issue orders.
Mao ZedongAt the beginning of anything out of the ordinary, the mass of the people always dislike it.
Mao ZedongMany who have read Marxist books have become renegades from the revolution, whereas illiterate workers often grasp Marxism very well.
Mao ZedongWhere do correct ideas come from? Do they drop from the skies? No. They come from social practice, and from it alone; they come from three kinds of social practice, the struggle for production, the class struggle and scientific experiment.
Mao Zedong