Top 18 Quotes by Mo Yan

I know what real courage is, and I understand true compassion.

I have always been independent.

I'll continue on the path I've been taking, feet on the ground, describing people's lives, describing people's emotions, writing from the standpoint of the ordinary people.

A writer should express criticism and indignation at the dark side of society and the ugliness of human nature, but we should not use one uniform expression.

For a country boy, poor as I was, whose constant worry was to be able to have enough to eat, the Army guaranteed one's survival.

I think writers write for their consciences, they write for their own true audiences, for their souls.

Loneliness and hunger were my fortunes of creation.

One of the biggest problems in literature is the lack of subtlety.

A writer should bury his thoughts deep and convey them through the characters in his novel.

Possibly because I've lived so much of my life in difficult circumstances, I think I have a more profound understanding of life.