Page 25 - SELECTED WORKS OF MAO TSE-TUNG Volume III.indd

REFORM OUR STUDY 23
or district, and derive from them, as our guide to action, laws which
are inherent in them and not imaginary, that is, we should find the
internal relations of the events occurring around us. And in order
to do that we must rely not on subjective imagination, not on mo-
mentary enthusiasm, not on lifeless books, but on facts that exist
objectively; we must appropriate the material in detail and, guided
by the general principles of Marxism-Leninism, draw correct conclu-
sions from it. Such conclusions are not mere lists of phenomena in
A, B, C, D order or writings full of platitudes, but are scientific
conclusions. Such an attitude is one of seeking truth from facts and
not of currying favour by claptrap. It is the manifestation of Party
spirit, the Marxist-Leninist style of uniting theory and practice. It
is the attitude every Communist Party member should have at the
very least. He who adopts this attitude will be neither “top-heavy,
thin-stemmed and shallow of root” nor “sharp-tongued, thick-skinned
and hollow inside”.

IV

In accordance with the above views, I would like to make the
following proposals:
1. We should place before the whole Party the task of making
a systematic and thorough study of the situation around us. On the
basis of the theory and method of Marxism-Leninism, we should
make a detailed investigation and study of developments in the
economic, financial, political, military, cultural and party activities of
our enemies, our friends and ourselves, and then draw the proper
and necessary conclusions. To this end, we should direct our com-
rades’ attention to the investigation and study of these practical mat-
ters. We should get our comrades to understand that the twofold
basic task of the leading bodies of the Communist Party is to know
conditions and to master policy; the former means knowing the world
and the latter changing the world. We should get our comrades to
understand that without investigation there is no right to speak, and
that bombastic twaddle and a mere list of phenomena in 1, 2, 3, 4
order are of no use. Take propaganda work, for instance; if we do
not know the situation with regard to the propaganda of our enemies,
our friends and ourselves, we shall be unable to decide on a correct