I am currently reading the most thorough biography of the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong (old spelling is Mao Tse-tung). The book is “Mao, The Unknown Story” by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday. Chang actually lived through the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and the co-authors interviewed numerous people who knew Mao personally. The documentation for the hundreds of interviews and primary sources is over 80 pages. It is a detailed and fascinating account.
So, here are some factual and very insightful quotes from Mao:
“I do not agree with the view that to be moral, the motive of one’s action has to be benefitting others. Morality does not have to be defined in relation to others…People like me want to…satisfy our hearts to the full, and in so doing so we automatically have the most valuable moral codes. Of course there are people and objects in the world, but they are all there only for me.”
People like me have a duty to ourselves; we have no duty to other people.”. “I am responsible only for the reality that I know, and absolutely not responsible for anything else. I don’t know about the past, I don’t know about the future. They have nothing to do with the reality of my own self…Some say one has a responsibility for history. I don’t believe it. I am only concerned about developing myself…I have my desire and act on it. I am responsible to no one” (Mao–The Unknown Story, p 13).
This is the man who was responsible for the death of 70 million people at the hands of his military, secret police, and economic policies.
Remember, what you think and say will eventually be acted out.