Lu Xun quotes

Lu Xun was a Chinese writer, essayist, and literary critic, widely regarded as the father of modern Chinese literature. His works addressed social injustices and challenged traditional values in early 20th-century China. He inspired generations of writers and reformers with his sharp wit and humanitarian ideals. Here are 45 of his quotes:

I used to think that a man was sentenced to death or imprisonment because he was guilty; now I know that he is found guilty because he is disliked. (Lu Xun)
When you talk with famous scholars, the best thing is to pretend that occasionally you do not quite understand them. If you understand too little, you will be despised; if you understand too much, you will be disliked; if you just fail occasionally to understand them, you will suit each other very well. View quote
Lu Xun
I thought: hope cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist. It is just like roads across the earth. For actually the earth had no roads to begin with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made. View quote
Lu Xun
To be suspicious is not a fault. To be suspicious all the time without coming to a conclusion is the defect. View quote
Lu Xun
The so-called "peace" is an interval between wars. View quote
Lu Xun
We have hereafter only two roads to choose: one is to embrace the ancient literature and die, the other is to forsake the ancient literature and live. View quote
Lu Xun
Chinese people love compromise. If you say to them, "This room is too dark, we must have a window made," they will all oppose you. But if you say, "Let's take off the roof," they will compromise with you and say "Let's have a window." View quote
Lu Xun
The most horrible thing is not a government that stages public executions, but a government that secretly disposes of its victims. View quote
Lu Xun
If there are still men who really want to live in this world, they should first dare to speak out, to laugh, to cry, to be angry, to accuse, to fight-that they may at least cleanse this accursed place of its accursed atmosphere! View quote
Lu Xun
Savage as a lion, timid as a rabbit, crafty as a fox... View quote
Lu Xun
The Revolution is so that people can live, not so that they can die! (Lu Xun)
The literature of former days is like watching a fire from across the water; in present-day literature, the author himself is being scorched by the fire and he is bound to feel it deeply, and when he begins to feel it deeply, he is bound to take part in the social struggle. View quote
Lu Xun
Chinese medicine lies, whether purposefully or not. View quote
Lu Xun
"Soviet Union is under dictatorship of the proletariat, the intelligentsia class is going to be starved to death."...a well known reporter had so warned me. Yes, I am afraid I might lost some sleep. But then, dictatorship of the proletariat(at present), isn't it for the forth coming of the classless society? As long as you do not murder it, naturally it's success will arrive soon, the elimination of classes will arrive soon, then no one will be "starved to death"...But now, the imperialists and their running dogs, still trying to tell us the Soviet Union's shortcomings, as if they really wish that Soviet Union would become heaven overnight, and all of it's people would enjoy life. Now, it turns out to be like that, it (imperialist) is disappointed, and feel uneasy...This is really the tears of the devil. View quote
Lu Xun
Rather than worship Confucius and Kuan Kung, one should worship Darwin and Ibsen. View quote
Lu Xun
Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. View quote
Lu Xun
Chinese tend to love moderation because of their temperament. If you said, for example, the room is so dim that there is an window to be installed here, no one would agree. But if you intended to dismantle the roof, they would come to mediate and therefore would agree to install a window. View quote
Lu Xun
Men who have not known the horror of death are not likely to be awed by it. View quote
Lu Xun
It is in the nature of things that some people should be unlucky enough to get their heads chopped off. View quote
Lu Xun
Where are now the warriors of the world of the spirit? Where are those who raise their voices for truth, who lead us to goodness, beauty, strength and health? Where are those who utter heartwarming words, who will lead us out of the wilderness? Our homes are gone and the nation is destroyed, yet we have no Jeremiah crying out his last sad song to the world and to posterity. View quote
Lu Xun
Lies written in ink cannot disguise facts written in blood. (Lu Xun)
You have to reform yourself before reforming society and the world. View quote
Lu Xun
Discontent is the wheel that moves people forward. View quote
Lu Xun
The ability to forget the past enables people to free themselves gradually from the pain they once suffered; but it also often makes them repeat the mistakes of their predecessors. View quote
Lu Xun
I have a dream that I will fulfill. And nothing else will distract me from my path. View quote
Lu Xun