Deng is commonly quoted with this phrase in western media but there is no proof that he actually said it

致富光荣 (zhìfù guāngróng: To get rich is glorious!)

Source and credibility

Deng Xiaoping very probably did not say this. Wikiquote lists it as misattributed.

Source: However, this phrase in Chinese is more accurately translated as "wealth is glorious," where wealth can have a very general meaning… Read in full
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by Deng Xiaoping

Democracy and dictatorship of the proletariat are two parts of the same antithesis, and proletarian democracy is far superior to its capitalist counterpart.

Interview with Oriana Fallaci (1980)

We hold that all countries, big or small, rich or poor, should be equal, and that international economic affairs should be jointly managed by all the countries of the world instead of being monopolized by the one or two superpowers.

Speech at the Special Session of the U.N. General Assembly (1974)

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Source, in full

However, this phrase in Chinese is more accurately translated as "wealth is glorious," where wealth can have a very general meaning, including knowledge, personal relationships, family: anything of value. Understood this way, the quote is not as directly controversial as a ideological/political statement, and so it is not hard to believe that he really did say this.

Deng is commonly quoted with this phrase in western media but there is no proof that he actually said it

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Deng is commonly quoted with this phrase in western media but there is no proof that he actually said it

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