"I intend to buy 'The New York Times.' Please don't take it as a joke."
"The tradition and style of the 'New York Times' make it very difficult to have objective coverage of China. If we could purchase it, its tone might turn around."
"I may be a maverick, but it doesn't mean I like playing tricks."
"My wealth is very limited. I need to influence other people to give."
"I like to get my hands dirty. Talk is cheap."
"Starting my business has been very hard work. I have received no help from any officials at all."
"My younger brother runs a guesthouse, and my sister is a janitor. I have not given them money because they earn their own money. I pay for their children's school fees."
"I want Chinese history to remember me as Carnegie is remembered. I want Chinese people to remember me as they remember Marx and Lenin."
"My goal is to work diligently to become the top philanthropist in the world."
"When I was young, I liked to be acknowledged in class by little gestures such as a small red star for doing something good. Now that I'm older, I still want to be acknowledged for good work."
"When I was eight years old, I was always starving. My brother and sister died from starvation."
"One summer vacation, I carried water to the town market to sell it, and I used some of the money I made to help a neighbour."
"The world needs a person like me so that many other rich people will be able to follow my role model. If they do, many poor people will be helped."
"Many rich people in China made their fortunes by damaging natural resources and building corrupt relations with the government."
"If you have only a glass of water, then one person can drink. If you have a bucket, a whole family can benefit."
"Society needs hundreds of hundreds of thousands of Chen Guangbiaos."
"If you have a river, then you should share it with everyone."
"I want to spread the message in the U.S. that there are good philanthropists in China, and not all are crazy spenders on luxury goods."
"I was not born into a rich family or a family of government officials."
"When I was 4 years old, my brother and sister died of hunger, so I achieved my success through confidence, self-motivation and my hard work."
"I want to tell mayors, county chiefs and heads of big companies: don't just chase GDP growth; don't chase the biggest profits at the expense of our children and grandchildren and at the cost of sacrificing our ecological environment."
"My plan for 'The New York Times,' if I get the deal, will be putting the paper on every newsstand across the country and making 'The Times' accessible to every Chinese household. China is such a big market and is too big to miss."
"I have been doing good deeds since I was just a small child."
"Whenever I see people in difficulty, I just try to help them. In fact, I believe I have helped over 700,000 people in my life."
"I have to be grateful to our society here in China, grateful to the economic reforms for letting me get rich, and grateful for the efforts of my staff. If there had been no reforms, I would have been a farmer."
