Word.ws English Dictionary

a revolution is not a dinner party

a revolution is not a dinner party proverb: in order to achieve something, courtesy, long-held norms, and other such formalities must be dropped.

Proverb

a revolution is not a dinner party

  1. In order to achieve something, courtesy, long-held norms, and other such formalities must be dropped.

Origin of a revolution is not a dinner party

Calque of Chinese 革命不是請客吃飯 /革命不是请客吃饭 (gémìng bùshì qǐngkè chīfàn, literally “revolution is not having guests to eat a meal”). An aphoristic political statement by Mao Zedong, defending violence as a means of imposing a different societal order; for more, see Wikipedia at revolution is not a dinner party.

Questions about a revolution is not a dinner party

What does a revolution is not a dinner party mean?
A revolution is not a dinner party means in order to achieve something, courtesy, long-held norms, and other such formalities must be dropped.
What part of speech is a revolution is not a dinner party?
A revolution is not a dinner party is a proverb.

Words near a revolution is not a dinner party in the dictionary

  1. a prophet has no honor in his own country
  2. a prophet is not without honor save in his own country
  3. a pussy and a pulse
  4. a quick drop and a sudden stop
  5. a quid for a quod
  6. a revolution is not a dinner party
  7. A ring
  8. A rings
  9. a rising tide lifts all boats
  10. A road
  11. A roads

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: a revolution is not a dinner party (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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