Ai Weiwei Quotes
- All Quotes
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The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay.
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To protect the right of expression is the central part of an artist’s activity. . . . . In China many essential rights are lacking, and I wanted to remind people of this.
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I don’t feel powerful at all. I am still under this kind of detention, and you know, this is kind of a bail. Even yesterday I realized while trying to take care of the baby, at the park, I had been secretly followed and it’s quite fragile. Maybe being powerful means to be fragile.
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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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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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It doesn’t matter where I am-China will stay in me. I don’t know how far I can still walk on this road and what is the limit.
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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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Citizens should bear the responsibility to act.
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I think China is in a chaos now and it could be more chaos. It’s an orderly chaos. It’s a party that ruthlessly violates every human’s basic rights to serve its own purpose.'
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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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They all ask: Why? Why is it that this man’s name Ai Weiwei can never be typed on a Chinese computer or the whole sentence will disappear?
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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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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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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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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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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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Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?
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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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A fine line separates Chinese intellectuals and professors from the political gangsters who protect them.
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Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.
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One of the reasons religions are widely accepted is spiritual laziness and its resulting fear.
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I spend very little time just doing ''art as art.'
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Very few people know why art sells so high. I don’t even know.