At Kobe, whither I fled from Hong Kong, I took a step of great importance. I cut off my cue, which had been growing all my life.
Sun Yat-SenRead
Those who wish to promote the welfare of the people should advance in solidarity with them and select the path most suitable for them. Since the history of our people is different from that of the people of the West, the steps that the two peoples choose to take in order to advance must also be different.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Promoting people's welfare requires understanding their unique context and history.
Sun Yat-Sen emphasizes that the welfare of a community can only be effectively promoted when leaders align their actions and strategies with the unique historical and cultural context of that community. This implies a rejection of one-size-fits-all solutions that may have worked in different societies, acknowledging that each group must forge its own path toward advancement based on its distinctive needs and experiences.
Themes
WelfareSolidarityHistoryAdvancementCommunity
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech advocating for social justice, one might reference this quote to highlight the need for context-aware reforms.
More from Sun Yat-Sen
All quotes →After the Manchu government had carried on wars with foreign nations and had been defeated, China was forced to sign many unequal treaties. Foreign nations are still using these treaties to bind China, and as a result, China fails at whatever she attempts.
Sun Yat-SenRead
What problem does Pan-Asianism attempt to solve? The problem is how to terminate the sufferings of the Asiatic peoples and how to resist the aggression of the powerful European countries. In a word, Pan-Asianism represents the cause of the oppressed Asiatic peoples.
Sun Yat-SenRead
How can human rights be ever developed for the majority of Chinese people? The only way is to organize. To organize workers, peasants, merchants, industrialists, and students at the grassroots level.
Sun Yat-SenRead
At thirteen, I accompanied my mother to the Hawaiian Islands. There, for the first time, I saw the wonder of a steamship and the vastness of the ocean. From that time on, I was eager to acquire the knowledge of the West and to fathom the mysteries of nature.
Sun Yat-SenRead
Because of poverty, we must adopt the capitalist means of production to develop our resources to get rich. However, if we ignore the issue of social justice at the beginning of China's industrialization, we will sow the seeds of class warfare in the future.
Sun Yat-SenRead
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