Ai Weiwei Quotes
- All Quotes
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During the days in detention, I thought most about the moon.
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It is as difficult for Chinese politicians to get a real smile from the people as it is to keep the sky blue and clouds white.
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Expressing oneself is like a drug. I’m so addicted to it.
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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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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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This is a decadent era. Its main characteristic is that it’s dependent on lies and cheating. Once it loses this characteristic, it can’t survive for even a day.
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Chairman Mao was the first in the world to use Twitter. All his quotations are within 140 words.
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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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One of the reasons religions are widely accepted is spiritual laziness and its resulting fear.
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I always want to design a frame that’s open to everyone. I don’t see art as a secret code.
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To express yourself needs a reason, but expressing yourself is the reason.
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I spend very little time just doing ''art as art.'
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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
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I often ask myself if I am afraid of being detained again. I love freedom as much as anybody else, maybe more than most. But it is a tragedy to live your life in fear. It is worse than actually losing your freedom.
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A fine line separates Chinese intellectuals and professors from the political gangsters who protect them.
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They the government cannot stop people from communicating freely, to get information and to express themselves. When they do that, this nation is not a right place to live. They sacrifice generations of people’s opportunities. This is a crime.
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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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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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China might seem quite successful in its controls, but it has only raised the water level. It’s like building a dam: it thinks there is more water so it will build higher. But every drop of water is still in there. It doesn’t understand how to let the pressure out. It builds up a way to maintain control and push the problem to the next generation.
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I’ve never planned any part of my career-except being an artist. And I was pushed into that corner because I thought being an artist was the only way to have a little freedom.
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We see plenty of artistic work that reflects superficial social conditions, but very little work that questions fundamental values.
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Measuring national prestige by gold medals is like using Viagra to judge the potency of a man.
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I want to prove that the system is not working. . . . . You can’t simply say that the system is not working. You have to work through it
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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.