a revolution is not a dinner party

== English == === Etymology === 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. === Proverb === a revolution is not a dinner party In order to achieve something, courtesy, long-held norms, and other such formalities must be dropped.