Let me tell you, world,
I—do—not—believe!
If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet,
Count me as number one thousand and one.

I don't believe the sky is blue:
I don't believe in thunder's echoes;
I don't believe that dreams are false:
I don't believe that death has no revenge." - Meaning and context.">
"The Answer", p. 33
“

Let me tell you, world,
I—do—not—believe!
If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet,
Count me as number one thousand and one.

I don't believe the sky is blue:
I don't believe in thunder's echoes;
I don't believe that dreams are false:
I don't believe that death has no revenge.

— Bei Dao

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "

Let me tell you, world,
I—do—not—believe!
If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet,
Count me as number one thousand and one.

I don't believe the sky is blue:
I don't believe in thunder's echoes;
I don't believe that dreams are false:
I don't believe that death has no revenge." in the context of ""The Answer", p. 33" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Bei Dao" (Quotes, The August Sleepwalker (1990): The August Sleepwalker, trans. Bonnie S. McDougall (New York: New Directions, 1990), ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Bei Dao

About Bei Dao

Bei Dao (simplified Chinese: 北岛; traditional Chinese: 北島; pinyin: Běidǎo; literally: "Northern Island", August 2, 1949 - ) is the pen name of Chinese poet Zhao Zhenkai (S: 赵振开, T: 趙振開, P: Zhào Zhènkāi). Bei Dao is the most notable representative of the Misty Poets, a group of Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions of the Cultural Revolution.