Quote of the Day by Chinese writer Lu Xun: ‘If a man's proposals met with approval, it should encourage him; if they met with opposition, it should make him fight back; but…’ - what silence, rejection and being ignored can teach us about communication, emotional health and the human need to be heard

Sometimes the hardest thing is not being criticized. It is speaking, trying to explain what you believe, or asking for change, and getting absolutely nothing back. No agreement. No argument. Just silence.

That kind of silence can make a person question whether their words mattered at all. For Chinese writer Lu Xun, one of the most powerful forms of human tragedy was not rejection, but the feeling that nobody was listening.

Quote of the Day by Lu Xun: “I felt that if a man's proposals met with approval, it should encourage him; if they met with opposition, it should make him fight back; but the real tragedy for him was to lift up his voice among the living and meet with no response neither approval nor opposition just as if he were left helpless in a boundless desert.”


The quote, from Selected Stories, explores what happens when a person puts an idea, belief or conviction into the world and receives no response. Lu Xun contrasts approval and opposition with something more unsettling: complete indifference.

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Why Lu Xun’s quote on being heard matters today

The ability to be heard has been considered trivial in most instances. In life, however, the answer serves as confirmation that our words have been heard. Our co-worker does not agree with our views. Our friend argues against what we believe. Our relative grasps what we are trying to convey. Even harsh criticism is better than silence.

This is why the observation of Lu Xun is valid up to this day. We may not always need affirmation, but we may just wish for confirmation that our words are getting to someone else.

What Lu Xun’s quote means in real life

It is not that the opposition is pleasurable for Lu Xun; what he means to say is that either approval or dissent provides something to react against. If people agree with one’s idea, it gives one the confidence that he or she has conveyed something worthwhile. On the other hand, opposition gives him or her something against which to debate and to defend his/her point. In either case, there is some kind of dialogue taking place.

But the worst fate of an individual can be when he or she feels nothing from the other person. Even after conveying one’s heart out, making proposals or bringing changes, the person may feel as if he or she were talking into the void. As Lu Xun describes it, the feeling is like that of a helpless person trapped in a desert with nobody around.

Who was Lu Xun?

Zhou Shuren, who is better known by his pen name, Lu Xun, was born in 1881 into a family of rich Confucian culture. His grandfather held a very high government post in Beijing and his father was a scholar. However, Lu's early life was characterized by hardships which were caused by his father's ill health and economic problems. Also, his grandfather was arrested due to corruption charges.

Such experiences shaped Lu Xun's attitude towards corruption and the traditional political establishment in China. Initially, he went to study medicine in Japan in 1904. Eventually, however, he came to realize that China required the spiritual medicine much more than the physical one. Therefore, he turned his attention to education and literature where he found that youth can be of great value in shaping China's future.

His major contribution to the literature, however, is the short stories and essays which focus on social injustices, corruption and problems which are faced by ordinary Chinese people. Instead of offering some political solutions, Lu Xun used grotesque imagery and exaggerated characters to reveal the reality of the society to the readers.