Ai Weiwei Quotes
- All Quotes
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I also have to speak out for people around me who are afraid, who think it is not worth it or who have totally given up hope. So I want to set an example: you can do it and this is okay, to speak out.
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Freedom of speech implies the world isn’t defined. It is meaningful when people are allowed to see the world their way.
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I lost all connection with the outside world and was immersed in a world of darkness. I was scared that my existence would fade silently. No one knew where I was, and no one would ever know. I was just like a small soybean-once fallen to the ground, it rolls into a crack in the corner. Being unable to make any sounds, it will forever be forgotten.
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You’re in total isolation. And you don’t know how long you’re going to be there, but you truly believe they can do anything to you. There’s no way to even question it. You’re not protected by anything. Why am I here? Your mind is very uncertain of time. You become like mad. It’s very hard for anyone. Even for people who have strong beliefs.
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Life is never guaranteed to be safe, so we better use it while we are still in good condition.
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Later I became very involved in writing. I really enjoyed that moment of writing. People would pass around my sentences. That was a feeling I never had before. It was like a bullet out of the gun.
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We should leave behind discrimination, because it is narrow-minded and ignorant, denies contact and warmth, and corrodes mankind’s belief that we can better ourselves. The only way to avoid misunderstanding, war, and bloodshed is to defend freedom of expression and to communicate with sincerity, concern, and good intentions.
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The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay.
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People often say I started to become too outspoken after a certain period. It’s all because of the Internet. If we didn’t have this technology I would be same as everybody else. I couldn’t really amplify my voice.
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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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I came to art because I wanted to escape the other regulations of the society. The whole society is so political. But the irony is that my art becomes more and more political.
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'Why are you so concerned about society?' That is always the question. And my answer is simple: 'Because you are an artist, you have to associate yourself with freedom of expression.'
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I call on people to be 'obsessed citizens,' forever questioning and asking for accountability. That’s the only chance we have today of a healthy and happy life.
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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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Before blogging, I was living in the Middle Ages. Now my feelings for time and space are entirely different.
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We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.
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They just don’t trust people. They don’t trust individuals, they don’t trust any change that should serve and benefit people, and they try to stop it.
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During the days in detention, I thought most about the moon.
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The great success of this system is that it makes the general public afraid of taking responsibility, afraid of taking a position or giving a definite answer, or even of making mistakes.
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Because of the economic crisis, China and the United States are bound together. This is a totally new phenomenon, and nobody will fight for ideology anymore. It’s all about business.
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Expressing oneself is like a drug. I’m so addicted to it.
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I’m not sure I’m good at art, but I find an escape in it.
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I don’t see myself as a dissident artist. I see them as a dissident government!
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The 81 days of detention were a nightmare. I am not unique; it happened to many people in China. Conditions were extreme, created by a system that thinks it is above the law and has become a kind of monstrous machine. There were so many moments when I felt desperate and hopeless. But still, the next morning, I heard the birds singing.