“On the one hand poetry is useless. It can’t change the world materially. On the other hand it is a basic part of human existence. It came into the world when humans did. It’s what makes human beings human.”

Being a poet in the States is quite different from being one in China, because in the States poetry depends on the universities for its support. They finance the poets and help them get published. That isn’t so in China. But overall it is the same. You can’t change society with poetry.

As a writer, the most important thing for me is to continue to write, no matter where I am.

Freedom is nothing but the distance between the hunter and the hunted.

Perhaps the final hour is come I have left no testament Only a pen, for my mother I am no hero in an age without heroes I just want to be a man.

I don’t think of writing my poems for China or for the world. I mainly think of a small audience of friends and people I know. I am writing for that small group. They are not necessarily going to be able to read it, but that’s what I have in mind when I write.

Bei Dao became the most well-known name for me because of certain criticism of my work. Bei Dao was the name under which my work was criticized. So I became more well-known under Bei Dao than under the other names.

Writing is the thing that sustains me and keeps me going. It is a form of self-preservation for me.

In the world I am Always a stranger I do not understand its language It does not understand my silence

The name Bei Dao was actually given to me with the help of friends. When we were publishing our unofficial magazine, Today, we wanted to avoid being harassed by the police so we were trying to think of names that we could use. It was done very casually.

If my face was covered, I would be useless.

Terror consists mostly of useless cruelties perpetrated by frightened people in order to reassure themselves.

There is nothing more foolish, nothing more given to outrage than a useless mob.

Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets.

Constant worrying is useless, don’t waste your time.

Time is meant to be wasted, love fails and death is useless.

Nature does nothing uselessly.

Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness.