Methods of Thinking and Methods of Work

The history of mankind is one of continuous development from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom. This process is never-ending. In any society in which classes exist class struggle will never end. In classless society the struggle between the new and the old and between truth and falsehood will never end. In the fields of the struggle for production and scientific experiment, mankind makes constant progress and nature undergoes constant change, they never remain at the same level. Therefore, man has constantly to sum up experience and go on discovering, inventing, creating and advancing. Ideas of stagnation, pessimism, inertia and complacency are all wrong. They are wrong because they agree neither with the historical facts of social development over the past million years, nor with the historical facts of nature so far known to us (i.e., nature as revealed in the history of celestial bodies, the earth, life, and other natural phenomena). Quoted in

Source: "Premier Chou Enlai's Report on the Work of the Government to the First Session of the Third National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China " (December 21-22, 1964).

人類的歷史，就是一個不斷地從必然王國向自由王國發展的歷史。這個歷史永遠不會完結。在有階級存在的社會內，階級鬥爭不會完結。在無階級存在的社會內，新與舊、正確與錯誤之間的鬥爭永遠不會完結。在生產鬥爭和科學實驗範圍內，人類總是不斷發展的，自然界也總是不斷發展的，永遠不會停止在一個水平上。因此，人類總得不斷地總結經驗，有所發現，有所發明，有所創造，有所前進。停止的論點，悲觀的論點，無所作為和驕傲自滿的論點都是錯誤的。其所以是錯誤，因為這些論點，不符合大約一百萬年以來人類社會發展的歷史事實，也不符合迄今為止我們所知道的自然界（例如天體史，地球史，生物史，其他各種自然科學史所反映的自然界）的歷史事實。

The Marxist philosophy of dialectical materialism has two outstanding characteristics. One is its class nature: it openly avows that dialectical materialism is in the service of the proletariat. The other is its practicality: it emphasizes the dependence of theory on practice, emphasizes that theory is based on practice and in turn serves practice.

Source: "On Practice" (July 1937), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 297.

自然科學是人們爭取自由的一種武裝。人們為著要在社會上得到自由，就要用社會科學來了解社會，改造社會進行社會革命。人們為著要在自然界裡得到自由，就要用自然科學來了解自然，克服自然和改造自然，從自然裡得到自由。在邊區自然科學研究會成立大會上的講話（一九四零年二月五日），一九四零年三月十五日《新中華報》馬克思主義的哲學辯證唯物論有兩個最顯著的特點：一個是它的階級性，公然申明辨證唯物論是為無產階級服務的；再一個是它的實踐性，強調理論對於實踐的依賴關係，理論的基礎是實踐，又轉過來為實踐服務。

On Practice — A July 1937 philosophical lecture: knowledge comes from practice and is tested by it; a main source of Chapter 22.

Marxist philosophy holds that the most important problem does not lie in understanding the laws of the objective world and thus being able to explain it, but in applying the knowledge of these laws actively to change the world.

Source: Ibid., p. 304.

馬克思主義的哲學認為十分重要的問題，不在於懂得了客觀世界的規律性，因而能夠解釋世界，而在於拿了這種對於客觀規律性的認識去能動地改造世界。

Where do correct ideas come from? Do they drop from the skies? No. Are they innate in the mind? 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.

Source: Where Do Correct Ideas Come from? (May 1963), 1st pocket ed., p. 1.

人的正確思想是從哪裡來的？是從天上掉下來的嗎？不是。是自己頭腦裡固有的嗎？不是。人的正確思想，只能從社會實踐中來，只能從社會的生產鬥爭、階級鬥爭和科學實驗這三項實踐中來。《人的正確思想是從那裡來的？

It is man's social being that determines his thinking. Once the correct ideas characteristic of the advanced class are grasped by the masses, these ideas turn into a material force which changes society and changes the world.

Source: Ibid. In their social practice, men engage in various kinds of struggle and gain rich experience, both from their successes and from their failures.

人們的社會存在，決定人們的思想。而代表先進階級的正確思想，一旦被群衆掌握，就會變成改造社會、改造世界的物質力量。《人的正確思想是從那裡來的？

Countless phenomena of the objective external world are reflected in a man's brain through his five sense organs - the organs of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. At first, knowledge is perceptual. The leap to conceptual knowledge, i.e., to ideas, occurs when sufficient perceptual knowledge is accumulated. This is one process in cognition. It is the first stage in the whole process of cognition, the stage leading from objective matter to subjective consciousness, from existence to ideas. Whether or not one's consciousness or ideas (including theories, policies, plans or measures) do correctly reflect the laws of the objective external world is not yet proved at this stage, in which it is not yet possible to ascertain whether they are correct or not. Then comes the second stage in the process of cognition, the stage leading from consciousness back to matter, from ideas back to existence, in which the knowledge gained in the first stage is applied in social practice to ascertain whether the theories, policies, plans or measures meet with the anticipated success. Generally speaking, those that succeed are correct and those that fail are incorrect, and this is especially true of man's struggle with nature. In social struggle, the forces representing the advanced class sometimes suffer defeat not because their ideas are incorrect but because, in the balance of forces engaged in struggle, they are not as powerful for the time being as the forces of reaction; they are therefore temporarily defeated, but they are bound to triumph sooner or later. Man's knowledge makes another leap through the test of practice. This leap is more important than the previous one. For it is this leap alone that can prove the correctness or incorrectness of the first leap in cognition, i.e., of the ideas, theories, policies, plans or measures formulated in the course of reflecting the objective external world. There is no other way of testing truth.

Source: Ibid., pp. 1-3.*

人們在社會實踐中從事各項鬥爭，有了豐富的經驗，有成功的，有失敗的。無數客觀外界的現象通過人的眼、耳、鼻、舌、身這五個官能反映到自己的頭腦中來，開始是感性認識。這種感性認識的材料積累多了，就會產生一個飛躍，變成了理性認識，這就是思想。這是一個認識過程。這是整個認識過程的第一個階段，即由客觀物質到主觀精神的階段，由存在到思想的階段。這時候的精神、思想（包括理論、政策、計劃、辦法）是否正確地反映了客觀外界的規律，還是沒有證明的，還不能確定是否正確，然後又有認識過程的第二個階段，即由精神到物質的階段，由思想到存在的階段，這就是把第一個階段得到的認識放到社會實踐中去，看這些理論、政策、計劃、辦法等等是否能得到預期的成功。一般的說來，成功了的就是正確的，失敗了的就是錯誤的，特別是人類對自然界的鬥爭是如此。在社會鬥爭中，代表先進階級的勢力，有時候有些失敗，並不是因為思想不正確，而是因為在鬥爭力量的對比上，先進勢力這一方，暫時還不如反動勢力那一方，所以暫時失敗了，但是以後總有一天會要成功的。人們的認識經過實踐的考驗，又會產生一個飛躍。這次飛躍，比起前一次飛躍來，意義更加偉大。因為只有這一次飛躍才能證明認識的第一次飛躍，即從客觀外界的反映過程中得到的思想、理論、計劃、辦法等等，究竟是正確的還是錯誤的，此外再無別的檢驗真理的辦法。《人的正確思想是從那裡來的？

Often, correct knowledge can be arrived at only after many repetitions of the process leading from matter to consciousness and then back to matter, that is, leading from practice to knowledge and then back to practice. Such is the Marxist theory of knowledge, the dialectical materialist theory of knowledge.

Source: Ibid., P. 3.*

一個正確的認識，往往需要經過由物質到精神，由精神到物質，即由實踐到認識，由認識到實踐這樣多次的反覆，才能夠完成。這就是馬克思主義的認識論，就是辯證唯物論的認識論。《人的正確思想是從那裡來的？

Whoever wants to know a thing has no way of doing so except by coming into contact with it, that is, by living (practising) in its environment… If you want knowledge, you must take part in the practice of changing reality. If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself… If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.

Source: "On Practice" (July 1937), Selected Works, Vol. I, pp. 299-300.

無論何人要認識什麼事物，除了同那個事物接觸，即生活於（實踐於）那個事物的環境中，是沒有法子解決的。……你要有知識，你就得參加變革現實的實踐。你要知道梨子的滋味，你就得變革梨子，親口吃一吃。……你要知道革命的理論和方法，你就得參加革命。一切真知都是從直接經驗發源的。

On Practice — A July 1937 philosophical lecture: knowledge comes from practice and is tested by it; a main source of Chapter 22.

Knowledge begins with practice, and theoretical knowledge which is acquired through practice must then return to practice. The active function of knowledge manifests itself not only in the active leap from perceptual to rational knowledge, but - and this is more important - it must manifest itself in the leap from rational knowledge to revolutionary practice.

Source: Ibid., p. 304.*

認識從實踐始，經過實踐得到了理論的認識，還須再回到實踐去。認識的能動作用，不但表現於從感性的認識到理性的認識之能動的飛躍，更重要的還須表現於從理性的認識到革命的實踐這一個飛躍。

It is well known that when you do anything, unless you understand its actual circumstances, its nature and its relations to other things, you will not know the laws governing it, or know how to do it, or be able to do it well.

Source: "Problems of Strategy in China 's Revolutionary War" (December 1936), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 179.

大家明白。不論做什麼事，不懂得那件事的情形，它的性質，它和它以外的事情的關聯，就不知道那件事的規律，就不知道如何去做，就不能做好那件事。

If a man wants to succeed in his work, that is, to achieve the anticipated results, he must bring his ideas into correspondence with the laws of the objective external world; if they do not correspond, he will fail in his practice. After he fails, he draws his lessons, corrects his ideas to make them correspond to the laws of the external world, and can thus turn failure into success; this is what is meant by "failure is the mother of success" and "a fall into the pit, a gain in your wit".

Source: "On Practice" (July 1937), Selected Works, Vol. I, pp. 296-97.

人們要想得到工作的勝利即得到預想的結果，一定要使自己的思想合於客觀外界的規律性，如果不合，就會在實踐中失敗。人們經過失敗之後，也就從失敗取得教訓，改正自己的思想使之適合於外界的規律性，人們就能變失敗為勝利，所謂「失敗者成功之母」，「吃一塹長一智」，就是這個道理。

On Practice — A July 1937 philosophical lecture: knowledge comes from practice and is tested by it; a main source of Chapter 22.

We are Marxists, and Marxism teaches that in our approach to a problem we should start from objective facts, not from abstract definitions, and that we should derive our guiding principles, policies and measures from an analysis of these facts.

Source: "Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art" (May 1942), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 74.

我們是馬克思主義者，馬克思主義叫我們看問題不要從抽象的定義出發，而要從客觀存在的事實出發，從分析這些事實中找出方針、政策、辦法來。

Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art — May 1942, proposing that art serves the workers, peasants and soldiers; the main source of Chapter 32.

The most fundamental method of work which all Communists must firmly bear in mind is to determine our working policies according to actual conditions. When we study the causes of the mistakes we have made, we find that they all arose because we departed from the actual situation at a given time and place and were subjective in determining our working policies.

Source: "Speech at a Conference of Cadres in the Shansi-Suiyuan Liberated Area" (April 1, 1948), Selected Works, Vol. IV, pp. 229-30.*

按照實際情況決定工作方針，這是一切共產黨員所必須牢牢記住的最基本的工作方法。我們所犯的錯誤，研究其發生的原因，都是由於我們離開了當時當地的實際情況，主觀地決定自己的工作方針。

Idealism and metaphysics are the easiest things in the world, because people can talk as much nonsense as they like without basing it on objective reality or having it tested against reality. Materialism and dialectics, on the other hand, need effort. They must be based on and tested by objective reality. Unless one makes the effort one is liable to slip into idealism and metaphysics. Introductory note to

Source: "Material on the Hu Feng Counter-Revolutionary Clique" (May 1955).

世界上只有唯心論和形而上學最省力，因為它可以由人們瞎說一氣，不要根據客觀實際，也不受客觀實際檢查的。唯物論和辯證法則要用氣力，它要根據客觀實際，並受客觀實際檢查，不用氣力就會滑到唯心論和形而上學方面去。

The fundamental cause of the development of a thing is not external but internal; it lies in the contradictoriness within the thing. This internal contradiction exists in every single thing, hence its motion and development. Contradictoriness within a thing is the fundamental cause of its development, while its interrelations and interactions with other things are secondary causes.

Source: "On Contradiction" (August 1937), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 313.

我們看事情必須要看它的實質，而把它的現象只看作入門的嚮導，一進了門就要抓住它的實質，這才是可靠的科學的分析方法。《星星之火，可以燎原》（一九三零年一月五日），《毛澤東選集》第一卷第一零三頁事物發展的根本原因，不是在事物的外部而是在事物的內部，在於事物內部的矛盾性。任何事物內部都有這種矛盾性，因此引起了事物的運動和發展。事物內部的這種矛盾性是事物發展的根本原因，一事物和他事物的互相聯繫和互相影響則是事物發展的第二位的原因。

On Contradiction — August 1937, alongside 'On Practice'. On the universality and particularity of contradiction; the other pillar of the book's method.

It [materialist dialectics] holds that external causes are the condition of change and internal causes are the basis of change, and that external causes become operative through internal causes. In a suitable temperature an egg changes into a chicken, but no temperature can change a stone into a chicken, because each has a different basis.

Source: Ibid., p. 314.

唯物辯證法認為外因是變化的條件，內因是變化的根據，外因通過內因而起作用。雞蛋因得適當的溫度而變化為雞子，但溫度不能使石頭變為雞子，因為二者的根據是不同的。

Marxist philosophy holds that the law of the unity of opposites is the fundamental law of the universe. This law operates universally, whether in the natural world, in human society, or in man's thinking. Between the opposites in a contradiction there is at once unity and struggle, and it is this that impels things to move and change. Contradictions exist everywhere, but they differ in accordance with the different nature of different things. In any given phenomenon or thing, the unity of opposites is conditional, temporary and transitory, and hence relative, whereas the struggle of opposites is absolute.

Source: On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People (February 27, 1957), 1st pocket ed., p. 18.

馬克思主義的哲學認為，對立統一規律是宇宙的根本規律。這個規律，不論在自然界、人類社會和人們的思想中，都是普遍存在的。矛盾著的對立面又統一，又鬥爭，由此推動事物的運動和變化。矛盾是普遍存在的，不過按事物的性質不同，矛盾的性質也就不同，對於任何一個具體的事物說來，對立的統一是有條件的、暫時的、過渡的，因而是相對的，對立的鬥爭則是絕對的。

The analytical method is dialectical. By analysis, we mean analysing the contradictions in things. And sound analysis is impossible without intimate knowledge of life and without real understanding of the pertinent contradictions.

Source: Speech at the Chinese Communist Party's National Conference on Propaganda Work (March 12, 1957), 15th pocket ed., p. 20.

分析的方法就是辯證的方法。所謂分析，就是分析事物的矛盾。不熟悉生活，對於所論的矛盾不真正瞭解，就不可能有中肯的分析。

Concrete analysis of concrete conditions, Lenin said, is "the most essential thing in Marxism, the living soul of Marxism". Lacking an analytical approach, many of our comrades do not want to go deeply into complex matters, to analyse and study them over and over again, but like to draw simple conclusions which are either absolutely affirmative or absolutely negative… From now on we should remedy this state of affairs.

Source: "Our Study and the Current Situation" (April 12, 1944), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 165.

列寧說，對於具體情況作具體的分析，是「馬克思主義的最本質的東西，馬克思主義的活的靈魂」。我們許多同志缺乏分析的頭腦，對於複雜事物，不願作反覆深入的分析研究，而愛作絕對肯定或絕對否定的簡單結論。……今後應該改善這種狀況。

The way these comrades look at problems is wrong. They do not look at the essential or main aspects but emphasize the non-essential or minor ones. It should be pointed out that these non-essential or minor aspects must not be overlooked and must be dealt with one by one. But they should not be taken as the essential or main aspects, or we will lose our bearings.

Source: On the Question of Agricultural Co-operation (July 31, 1955), 3rd ed., pp. 17-18.

這些同志看問題的方法不對。他們不去看問題的本質方面，主流方面，而是強調那些非本質方面、非主流方面的東西。應當指出：不能忽略非本質方面和非主流方面的問題，必須逐一地將它們解決。但是，不應當將這些看成為本質和主流，以致迷惑了自己的方向。

On the Question of Agricultural Co-operation — July 1955, on the steps and disputes of agricultural co-operation.

In this world, things are complicated and are decided by many factors. We should look at problems from different aspects, not from just one.

Source: "On the Chungking Negotiations'' (October 17, 1945), Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 54.

世界上的事情是複雜的，是由各方面的因素決定的。看問題要從各方面去看，不能只從單方面看。

只有那些主觀地、片面地和表面地看問題的人，跑到一個地方，不問環境的情況，不看事情的全體（事情的歷史和全部現狀），也不觸到事情的本質（事情的性質及此一事情和其他事情的內部聯繫），就自以為是地發號施令起來，這樣的人是沒有不跌交子的。

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.

Source: "On Practice" (July 1937), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 302.

研究問題，忌帶主觀性、片面性和表面性。所謂主觀性，就是不知道客觀地看問題，也就是不知道用唯物的觀點去看問題。這一點，我在《實踐論》一文中已經說過了。所謂片面性，就是不知道全面地看問題。……或者叫做只看見局部，不看見全體，只看見樹木，不看見森林。這樣，是不能找出解決矛盾的方法的，是不能完成革命任務的，是不能做好所任工作的，是不能正確地發展黨內的思想鬥爭的。孫子論軍事說：「知彼知己，百戰不殆。」他說的是作戰的雙方。唐朝人魏徵說過：「兼聽則明，偏信則闇。」也懂得片面性不對。可是我們的同志看問題，往往帶片面性，這樣的人就往往碰釘子。……列寧說：「要真正地認識對象，就必須把握和研究它的一切方面、一切聯繫和『媒介』。我們決不會完全地作到這一點，可是要求全面性，將使我們防止錯誤，防止僵化。」我們應該記得他的話。表面性，是對矛盾總體和矛盾各方的特點都不去看，否認深入事物裡面精細地研究矛盾特點的必要，僅僅站在那裡遠遠地望一望，粗枝大葉地看到一點矛盾的形相，就想動手去解決矛盾（答覆問題、解決糾紛、處理工作、指揮戰爭）。這樣的做法，沒有不出亂子的。……片面性、表面性也是主觀性，因為一切客觀事物本來是互相聯繫的和具有內部規律的，人們不去如實地反映這些情況，而只是片面地或表面地去看它們，不認識事物的互相聯繫，不認識事物的內部規律，所以這種方法是主觀主義的。

On Practice — A July 1937 philosophical lecture: knowledge comes from practice and is tested by it; a main source of Chapter 22.

One-sidedness means thinking in terms of absolutes, that is, a metaphysical approach to problems. In the appraisal of our work, it is one-sided to regard everything either as all positive or as all negative… To regard everything as positive is to see only the good and not the bad, and to tolerate only praise and no criticism. To talk as though our work is good in every respect is at variance with the facts. It is not true that everything is good; there are still shortcomings and mistakes. But neither is it true that everything is bad, and that, too, is at variance with the facts. Here analysis is necessary. To negate everything is to think, without having made any analysis, that nothing has been done well and that the great work of socialist construction, the great struggle in which hundreds of millions of people are participating, is a complete mess with nothing in it worth commending. Although there is a difference between the many people who hold such views and those who are hostile to the socialist system, these views are very mistaken and harmful and can only dishearten people. It is wrong to appraise our work either from the viewpoint that everything is positive, or from the viewpoint that everything is negative.

Source: Speech at the Chinese Communist Party's National Conference on Propaganda Work (March 12, 1957), 1st pocket ed., pp. 16-17.*

片面性就是思想上的絕對化，就是形而上學地看問題。對於我們的工作的看法，肯定一切或者否定一切，都是片面性的。……肯定一切，就是只看到好的，看不到壞的，只能讚揚，不能批評。說我們的工作似乎一切都好，這不合乎事實。不是一切都好，還有缺點和錯誤。但是也不是一切都壞，這也不合乎事實。要加以分析。否定一切，就是不加分析地認為事情都做得不好，社會主義建設這樣一個偉大事業，幾億人口所進行的這個偉大鬥爭，似乎沒有什麼好處可說，一團糟。許多具有這種看法的人，雖然和那些對社會主義制度心懷敵意的人還不相同，但是這種看法是很錯誤的，很有害的，它只會使人喪失信心。不論是用肯定一切的觀點或者否定一切的觀點來看我們的工作，都是錯誤的。

In approaching a problem a Marxist should see the whole as well as the parts. A frog in a well says, "The sky is no bigger than the mouth of the well." That is untrue, for the sky is not just the size of the mouth of the well. If it said, "A part of the sky is the size of the mouth of a well", that would be true, for it tallies with the facts.

Source: "On Tactics Against Japanese Imperialism" (December 27, 1935), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 159.

馬克思主義者看問題，不但要看到部分，而且要看到全體。一個蝦蟆坐在井裡說：「天有一個井大。」這是不對的，因為天不止一個井大。如果它說：「天的某一部分有一個井大。」這是對的，因為合乎事實。

We must learn to look at problems allsidedly, seeing the reverse as well as the obverse side of things. In given conditions, a bad thing can lead to good results and a good thing to bad results.

Source: On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People (February 27, 1957), 1st pocket ed., pp. 66-67.*

我們必須學會全面地看問題，不但要看到事物的正面，也要看到它的反面。在一定的條件下，壞的東西可以引出好的結果，好的東西也可以引出壞的結果。

While we recognize that in the general development of history the material determines the mental and social being determines social consciousness, we also - and indeed must - recognize the reaction of mental on material things, of social consciousness on social being and of the superstructure on the economic base. This does not go against materialism; on the contrary, it avoids mechanical materialism and firmly upholds dialectical materialism.

Source: "On Contradiction" (August 1937), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 336.*

我們承認總的歷史發展中是物質的東西決定精神的東西，是社會的存在決定社會的意識；但是同時又承認而且必須承認精神的東西的反作用，社會意識對於社會存在的反作用，上層建築對於經濟基礎的反作用。這不是違反唯物論，正是避免了機械唯物論，堅持了辯證唯物論。

On Contradiction — August 1937, alongside 'On Practice'. On the universality and particularity of contradiction; the other pillar of the book's method.

In seeking victory, those who direct a war cannot overstep the limitations imposed by the objective conditions; within these limitations, however, they can and must play a dynamic role in striving for victory. The stage of action for commanders in a war must be built upon objective possibilities, but on that stage they can direct the performance of many a drama, full of sound and colour, power and grandeur.

Source: "On Protracted War" (May 1938), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 152.

指導戰爭的人們不能超越客觀條件許可的限度期求戰爭的勝利，然而可以而且必須在客觀條件的限度之內，能動地爭取戰爭的勝利。戰爭指揮員活動的舞臺，必須建築在客觀條件的許可之上，然而他們憑藉這個舞臺，卻可以導演出很多有聲有色、威武雄壯的戲劇來。

On Protracted War — May 1938, early in the Sino-Japanese War. Predicts a long war and a strategy of trading space for time.

People must adapt their thinking to the changed conditions. Of course no one should go off into wild flights of fancy, or make plans of action unwarranted by the objective situation, or stretch for the impossible. The problem today, however, is that Rightist conservative thinking is still causing mischief in many spheres and preventing the work in these spheres from keeping pace with the development of the objective situation. The present problem is that many people consider it impossible to accomplish things which could be accomplished if they exerted themselves.

Source: Preface to The Socialist Upsurge in China 's Countryside (December 27, 1955), Chinese ed., Vol. I.

人們的思想必須適應已經變化了的情況，當然，任何人不可以無根據地胡思亂想，不可以超越客觀情況所許可的條件去計劃自己的行動，不要勉強地去做那些實在做不到的事情。但是現在的問題，還是右傾保守思想在許多方面作怪，使許多方面的工作不能適應客觀情況的發展。現在的問題是經過努力本來可以做到的事情，卻有很多人認為做不到。

We should always use our brains and think everything over carefully. A common saying goes, "Knit your brows and you will hit upon a stratagem." In other words much thinking yields wisdom. In order to get rid of the blindness which exists to a serious extent in our Party, we must encourage our comrades to think, to learn the method of analysis and to cultivate the habit of analysis.

Source: "Our Study and the Current Situation" (April 12, 1944), Selected Works, Vol. III, pp. 174-75.*

凡事應該用腦筋好好想一想。俗話說：「眉頭一皺，計上心來。」就是說多想出智慧。要去掉我們黨內濃厚的盲目性，必須提倡思索，學會分析事物的方法，養成分析的習慣。

Of the two contradictory aspects, one must be principal and the other secondary. The principal aspect is the one playing the leading role in the contradiction. The nature of a thing is determined mainly by the principal aspect of a contradiction, the aspect which has gained the dominant position. But this situation is not static; the principal and the non-principal aspects of a contradiction transform themselves into each other and the nature of the thing changes accordingly.

Source: Ibid., p. 333.

任何過程如果有多數矛盾存在的話，其中必定有一種是主要的，起著領導的、決定的作用，其他則處於次要和服從的地位。因此，研究任何過程，如果是存在著兩個以上矛盾的複雜過程的話，就要用全力找出它的主要矛盾。捉住了這個主要矛盾，一切問題就迎刃而解了。

It is not enough to set tasks, we must also solve the problem of the methods for carrying them out. If our task is to cross a river, we cannot cross it without a bridge or a boat. Unless the bridge or boat problem is solved, it is idle to speak of crossing the river. Unless the problem of method is solved, talk about the task is useless.

Source: "Be Concerned with the Well-Being of the Masses, Pay Attention to Methods of Work" (January 27, 1934), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 150.

矛盾著的兩方面中，必有一方面是主要的，他方面是次要的。其主要的方面，即所謂矛盾起主導作用的方面。事物的性質，主要地是由取得支配地位的矛盾的主要方面所規定的。然而這種情形不是固定的，矛盾的主要和非主要的方面互相轉化著，事物的性質也就隨著起變化。《矛盾論》（九三七年八月），《毛澤東選集》第一卷第三一零頁我們不但要提出任務，而且要解決完成任務的方法問題。我們的任務是過河，但是沒有橋或沒有船就不能過。不解決橋或船的問題，過河就是一句空話。不解決方法問題，任務也只是瞎說一頓。

Be Concerned with the Well-Being of the Masses, Pay Attention to Methods of Work — January 1934, on concrete methods and mass livelihood.

In any task, if no general and widespread call is issued, the broad masses cannot be mobilized for action. But if persons in leading positions confine themselves to a general call - if they do not personally, in some of the organizations, go deeply and concretely into the work called for, make a break-through at some single point, gain experience and use this experience for guiding other units - then they will have no way of testing the correctness or of enriching the content of their general call, and there is the danger that nothing may come of it.

Source: "Some Questions Concerning Methods of Leadership" (June 1, 1943), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 117.

任何工作任務，如果沒有一般的普遍的號召，就不能動員廣大群衆行動起來。但如果只限於一般號召，而領導人員沒有具體地直接地從若干組織將所號召的工作深入實施，突破一點，取得經驗，然後利用這種經驗去指導其他單位，就無法考驗自己提出的一般號召是否正確，也無法充實一般號召的內容，就有使一般號召歸於落空的危險。

Some Questions Concerning Methods of Leadership — June 1943, systematising 'from the masses, to the masses'.

No one in a leading position is competent to give general guidance to all the units unless he derives concrete experience from particular individuals and events in particular subordinate units. This method must be promoted everywhere so that leading cadres at all levels learn to apply it.

Source: Ibid., p. 118.

任何領導人員，凡不從下級個別單位的個別人員、個別事件取得具體經驗者，必不能向一切單位作普遍的指導。這一方法必須普遍地提倡，使各級領導幹部都能學會使用。

In any given place, there cannot be a number of central tasks at the same time. At any one time there can be only one central task, supplemented by other tasks of a second or third order of importance. Consequently, the person with over-all responsibility in the locality must take into account the history and circumstances of the struggle there and put the different tasks in their proper order; he should not act upon each instruction as it comes from the higher organization without any planning of his own, and thereby create a multitude of "central tasks" and a state of confusion and disorder. Nor should a higher organization simultaneously assign many tasks to a lower organization without indicating their relative importance and urgency or without specifying which is central, for that will lead to confusion in the steps to be taken by the lower organizations in their work and thus no definite results will be achieved. It is part of the art of leadership to take the whole situation into account and plan accordingly in the light of the historical conditions and existing circumstances of each locality, decide correctly on the centre of gravity and the sequence of the work for each period, steadfastly carry through the decision, and make sure that definite results are achieved.

Source: Ibid., p. 121.

在任何一個地區內，不能同時有許多中心工作，在一定時間內只能有一箇中心工作，輔以別的第二位、第三位的工作。因此，一個地區的總負責人，必須考慮到該處的鬥爭歷史和鬥爭環境，將各項工作擺在適當的地位；而不是自己全無計劃，只按上級指示來一件做一件，形成很多的「中心工作」和凌亂無秩序的狀態。上級機關也不要不分輕重緩急地沒有中心地同時指定下級機關做很多項工作，以致引起下級在工作步驟上的凌亂，而得不到確定的結果。領導人員依照每一具體地區的歷史條件和環境條件，統籌全局，正確地決定每一時期的工作重心和工作秩序，並把這種決定堅持地貫徹下去，務必得到一定的結果，這是一種領導藝術。

It [a regional or sub-regional bureau of the Central Committee of the Party] should constantly have a grip on the progress of the work, exchange experience and correct mistakes; it should not wait several months, half a year or a year before holding summing-up meetings for a general check-up and a general correction of mistakes. Waiting leads to great loss, while correcting mistakes as soon as they occur reduces loss.

Source: "On the Policy Concerning Industry and Commerce" (February 27, 1948), Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 204.

必須隨時掌握工作進程，交流經驗，糾正錯誤，不要等數月、半年以至一年後，才開總結會，算總帳，總的糾正。這樣損失太大，而隨時糾正，損失較少。

Don't wait until problems pile up and cause a lot of trouble before trying to solve them. Leaders must march ahead of the movement, not lag behind it. Introductory note to

Source: "Contract on a Seasonal Basis" (1955), The Socialist Upsurge in China's Countryside, Chinese ed., Vol. III.

不要等到問題成了堆，鬧出了許多亂子，然後才去解決。領導一定要走在運動的前面，不要落在它的後面。

The Socialist Upsurge in China's Countryside — A 1955 compilation with editor's notes on co-operation.

What we need is an enthusiastic but calm state of mind and intense but orderly work.

Source: "Problems of Strategy in China 's Revolutionary War" (December 1936), Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 211.

我們需要的是熱烈而鎮定的情緒，緊張而有秩序的工作。