Sun Yat-Sen
Born
in China
November 12, 1866
Died
March 12, 1925
More books by Sun Yat-Sen…
“The Chinese people have only family and clan solidarity; they do not have national spirit...they are just a heap of loose sand...Other men are the carving knife and serving dish; we are the fish and the meat.
China is now suffering from poverty, not from unequal distribution of wealth. Where there are inequalities of wealth, the methods of Marx can, of course, be used; a class war can be advocated to destroy the inequalities. But in China, where industry is not yet developed, Marx's class war and dictatorship of the proletariat are impracticable.
Class war is not the cause of social progress; it is a disease developed in the course of social progress. The cause of the disease is the inability to subsist, and the result of the disease is war.
Sun Yat-sen”
―
China is now suffering from poverty, not from unequal distribution of wealth. Where there are inequalities of wealth, the methods of Marx can, of course, be used; a class war can be advocated to destroy the inequalities. But in China, where industry is not yet developed, Marx's class war and dictatorship of the proletariat are impracticable.
Class war is not the cause of social progress; it is a disease developed in the course of social progress. The cause of the disease is the inability to subsist, and the result of the disease is war.
Sun Yat-sen”
―
“The sovereign owner should
depend upon the skillful expert to drive his car, and the same principle should apply in the vital affairs of the nation.
The people are the owners; they must be sovereign. The government are specialists; they must be men of ability and
skill. We are therefore to look upon all the officers of the government, from president and premier down to heads
of departments, as specially trained chauffeurs; if they are able men and loyal to the nation, we should be willing to
give the sovereignty of the state into their hands. We must not limit their movements but give them freedom of
action; then the state can progress and progress with rapid strides. If, on the contrary, we attempt to take everything
into our own hands, or to hamper our experts at every turn and not allow them freedom of action, the state can
hardly hope to progress much and will move forward very slowly.”
― Min quan zhu yi / Sun Wen chu.,民權主義 / 孫文著. 1924 [Leather Bound]
depend upon the skillful expert to drive his car, and the same principle should apply in the vital affairs of the nation.
The people are the owners; they must be sovereign. The government are specialists; they must be men of ability and
skill. We are therefore to look upon all the officers of the government, from president and premier down to heads
of departments, as specially trained chauffeurs; if they are able men and loyal to the nation, we should be willing to
give the sovereignty of the state into their hands. We must not limit their movements but give them freedom of
action; then the state can progress and progress with rapid strides. If, on the contrary, we attempt to take everything
into our own hands, or to hamper our experts at every turn and not allow them freedom of action, the state can
hardly hope to progress much and will move forward very slowly.”
― Min quan zhu yi / Sun Wen chu.,民權主義 / 孫文著. 1924 [Leather Bound]












