The answer is as follows:

What Deng Xiaoping said

It comes from Deng Xiaoping’s speech at the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee

It is a famous saying

Practice is the only criterion for testing truth

Basic information

On May 11, 1978, Guangming Daily published an article by our special commentator "Practice is the test of truth" "The Only Criterion of Truth", which triggered a big discussion about the standard of truth.

The article points out that the standard for testing truth can only be social practice. The unity of theory and practice is one of the most basic principles of Marxism. Any theory must be constantly tested by practice. This is a fundamental theoretical denial of the "two whatevers".

This discussion broke through the serious constraints of the "two whatevers" and promoted the nationwide Marxist ideological emancipation movement. It was the third plenary session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The ideological forerunner to realize the great turning point of far-reaching significance in the history of the Communist Party of China since the founding of New China has made important theoretical preparations for the Communist Party of China to re-establish the Marxist ideological line, political line and organizational line.

Original text

Practice is the criterion for testing truth

What is the criterion for testing truth? This is a problem that has long been solved by the revolutionary mentors of the proletariat. However, in recent years, due to the sabotage of the "Gang of Four" and the large amount of distorted propaganda by the public opinion tools under their control, this issue has become chaotic. In order to deeply criticize the "Gang of Four" and eliminate its poison and influence, it is very necessary to correct the chaos on this issue.

The standard for testing truth can only be social practice

How to distinguish truth from falsehood? In 1845, Marx raised the question of the standard for testing truth: "Human thinking Whether it has objective truth is not a theoretical issue, but a practical issue. People should prove the truth of their own thinking in practice, that is, the reality and power of their own thinking, that is, the hereside nature of their own thinking. . The debate on whether thinking separated from practice is realistic is a purely scholastic question. "("Selected Works of Marx and Engels", Volume 1, Page 16) This tells us very clearly whether a theory reflects correctly. Whether objective reality is the truth can only be tested through social practice. This is a basic principle of Marxist epistemology.

Practice is not only the standard for testing truth, but also the standard for truth. Chairman Mao said: "There is only one truth, and who discovered the truth does not rely on subjective exaggeration, but on objective practice. Only the revolutionary practice of millions of people is the yardstick for testing truth." ("New Democracy" "On") "The standard of truth can only be social practice." ("On Practice") Here it is said: "Only" and "is", that is to say, there is only one standard, and there is no second one. This is because the truth mentioned by dialectical materialism is objective truth and is the correct reflection of human thought on the objective world and its laws. Therefore, as the standard for testing truth, it cannot be found in the subjective field or the theoretical field. Thoughts, theories, and themselves cannot become the standard for testing whether they conform to objective reality, just as in law, whether the plaintiff is true or not cannot be The same standard applies to his own prosecution. As a standard for testing truth, it must have the characteristics of connecting human thoughts with the objective world, otherwise it cannot be tested. Human social practice is an activity that transforms the objective world, and is what subjective opinions bring to the objective. Practice has the characteristic of connecting ideas with objective reality. Therefore, it is practice, and only practice, that can accomplish the task of testing truth. Countless facts in the history of science fully illustrate this issue.