Mao Zedong, Speech at the Chinese Communist Party’s National Conference on Propaganda Work (March 12, 1957), in The Little Red Book, 1st pocket edition, pp. 26-27
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In the ideological field, the question of who will win in the struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie has not been really settled yet. We still have to wage a protracted struggle against bourgeois and petty bourgeois ideology. It is wrong not to understand this and to give up ideological struggle. All erroneous ideas, all poisonous weeds, all ghosts and monsters, must be subjected to criticism; in no circumstance should they be allowed to spread unchecked. However, the criticism should be fully reasoned, analytical and convincing, and not rough, bureaucratic, metaphysical or dogmatic.

— Mao Zedong on Criticism

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "In the ideological field, the question of who will win in the struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie has not been really settled yet. We still have to wage a protracted struggle against bourgeois and petty bourgeois ideology. It is wrong not to understand this and to give up ideological struggle. All erroneous ideas, all poisonous weeds, all ghosts and monsters, must be subjected to criticism; in no circumstance should they be allowed to spread unchecked. However, the criticism should be fully reasoned, analytical and convincing, and not rough, bureaucratic, metaphysical or dogmatic." in the context of "Mao Zedong, Speech at the Chinese Communist Party’s National Conference on Propaganda Work (March 12, 1957), in The Little Red Book, 1st pocket edition, pp. 26-27" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Criticism" (Z) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Mao Zedong

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.