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ON NUCLEAR WAR. It is said that if worse came to worst and half of mankind died, the other half would remain, while imperialism would be razed to the ground, and the whole world would become socialist; in a number of years there would be 2.7 billion people again. (1957)
ON THE POST-MAO LEADERSHIP.
Successors must be Marxist-Leninists, they must serve the interest of the majority of the people, they must unite the majority, they must display the democratic style, and they must conduct selfcriticism. What I have in mind is not complete . . . You must not always think that you alone will do and that everything done by others is no good, as without you the world would not turn and there would be no party . . . There is no need to fear for the death of anyone. Whose death would be a great loss? Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, are they not all dead? The revolution must still go on . . . We must be prepared at all times to leave our posts and we must always be ready with successors. (1964)
ON DEATH. Living is transformed into dying, lifeless matter is transformed into living beings. I propose that when people over the age of 50 die, a party should be held to celebrate, for it is inevitable that men should die—this is a natural law. (1958)
ON THE LEGACY OF MAO AND CHOU ENLAI. Loyal parents who sacrificed so much for the nation/ Never feared the ultimate fate/ Now that our country has become red/ Who will be its guardian? Our mission, unfinished/ May take a thousand years. The struggle tires us, and our hair is gray/ You and I, old friends, can we just watch our efforts be washed away? (Last poem, 1975)