If war breaks out, half the population will die, leaving the other half. There are those even more formidable than we are—namely, the United States. A film vividly portrays this! Khrushchev went much further than I did; he spoke of weapons capable of annihilating humanity, such as “death rays.” I’m not referring to China alone, but to a scenario where one-third of the world’s population perishes—essentially, half the global population dies! Despite all this, we pressed ahead with construction, establishing robust foundations in steel, national defense, machinery, chemical industry, petroleum, and railways. Once these were in place, we would no longer fear war. But if we failed to achieve this, what then? We would simply fight them using conventional weapons. In the past, we had neither airplanes nor artillery… nor even dynamite—but we still emerged victorious. Even during wartime, we could continue building: you wage your war, and we carry on our own development.

(When discussing the necessity of adopting new technologies in design:)
Mao: When designing, we must compare options—determine which require less expenditure yet yield greater results, and which demand substantial investment yet deliver meager outcomes. Should designers work at their desks back home, or should they go directly to the site? I have read an article on the design of a 12,000-ton hydraulic press. Some designs underwent one, two, or even hundreds of failures. Success cannot be achieved without experiencing failure first.