Ai Weiwei Quotes
- All Quotes
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Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what’s on his mind. A fairy tale has come true.
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This simple form of repression, of using the method of not letting anyone speak, will never succeed.
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China has not established the rule of law and thus there is no justice.
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I think restrictions are an essential condition in the fight for freedom of expression. It’s also a source for any kind of creativity.
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In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want-not only you, your whole family and all people like you.
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Living in a system under the Communist ideology, an artist cannot avoid fighting for freedom of expression. You always have to be aware that art is not only a self-expression but a demonstration of human rights and dignity. To express yourself freely, a right as personal as it is, has always been difficult, given the political situation.
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The world is not changing if you don’t shoulder the burden of responsibility.
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If Shakespeare were alive today, he might be writing on Twitter.
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I have no sense of why I lost my freedom and if you do not know how you lost something, how can you protect it?'
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People always tell me, 'Weiwei, leave the nation, please.' Or 'Live longer and watch them die.' Either leave, or be patient and watch how they die. I really don’t know what I’m going to do.
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Police in China can do whatever they want; after 81 days in arbitrary detention you clearly realise that they don’t have to obey their own laws.
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The language of communication will always need to be renewed.
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Cover-ups and deception are the nature of this society. Without lies it won’t exist.
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Three years after the CCTV headquarters fire in Beijing in February 2009, human skeletons lie forgotten. Is anyone accountable?
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I wouldn’t say I’ve become more radical: I was born radical.
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The world is a sphere, there is no East or West.
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Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility.
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Antiques exist as evidence of the cultural tracks we made in the past.
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It’s hard to recover. You become not so innocent. You become, in a way, more sophisticated, which I think you shouldn’t. We should all have more simple happiness . . . . You become bitter.
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I think art certainly is the vehicle for us to develop any new ideas, to be creative, to extend our imagination, to change the current conditions.
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I am very much interested in the so-called useless object. I mean, it takes perfect craftsmanship, beautiful material carefully measured and crafted, but at the same time it’s really useless.
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They tell us it will be about 'emotions' and 'friendship,' that it will be a night of joy. Who are they kidding?
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When I checked into a hospital in Germany, after having been beaten by police in Sichuan, I was told there was bleeding in my brain and I was near fatal collapse. I was rushed into surgery. When I awoke I felt like a normal person again. But I will not feel whole until I and my fellow Chinese can live freely.
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Citizens should bear the responsibility to act.