Famous Quotes in Modern Chinese History

[xiaojiang216]

大家好，

 

After extensive Google searches and scouring these forums, I'd like to ask our "万能的 Chinese-Forums" if anyone knows about a particular quote attributed to Zhou Enlai:

 

When asked by Henry Kissinger why Americans walk with their heads raised high, while the Chinese tend to look down as they walk, Zhou Enlai allegedly retorted, "因为我们中国人正在上山，走的是上坡路，相反你们美国人在下山，走的是下坡的缘故。"

 

I remembered this quote from several conversations with Chinese friends, and was able to find it on many Chinese websites (some of them collections of jokes), but cannot seem to back it up with a more reliable source. The quote does seem to be an exaggerated generalization, but I'm wondering if anyone might have any ideas about where it might be from. Perhaps it was a popular joke that emanated from Nixon's famous "We are at the top of the mountain now" response to Zhou Enlai when showing him Mao Zedong's calligraphy about Lushan? (I have found references to that in history books.)

 

Anyway, while this post is about a very specific quote, perhaps this thread could later serve a greater purpose of sharing famous quotes in Chinese history.

 

谢谢大家！