Ai Weiwei Quotes - Page 5

I think you can give meaning to any condition; you can be poor or unsuccessful or be so-called successful. But I don't think that it would give an individual human being a better condition.

The Internet has established a public sphere and developed a pressure which the government can no longer ignore.

When you have strict censorship of the internet, young students cannot receive a full education. Their view of the world is imbalanced. There can be no true discussion of the issues.

We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp

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.

I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.

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.

For me, it is OK as long as I can breathe, as long as my heart is pumping, as long as I can express myself.

I have to find a place for my own. I have to search for my own happiness.

There are many cases and layers of racist behavior in the US - from police treatment to the issues of education and job opportunities. In America, however, such cases are being discussed publically.

I think of art as coming from daily life, daily experience. I think it's very important not to have it become work for some kind of elite circle.

The IT people who have made such an effort to know and understand computer technology. They are frustrated that you cannot use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in China. They are the first to recognize that the situation is terrible.

I came back [to Beijing ] because that's the only time I had an excuse to come back, or otherwise I would never have a reason to come back.

I loved New York — every inch of it. It was a little bit scary at that time, but still, the excitement was so strong — visually and intellectually. It was like a monster.

I don’t want the next generation to fight the same fight as I did.

The freedom of speech is an important yardstick for a society's level of civilization.

The media is the message. It carries the full intention and the meaning. Once you change it...it's very disturbing.

It's really rubbish that some kind of "technical" learning means you will be a better person because you know this skill better.

As a total activity - I practice curating, art, architecture, writing, and publishing all together. I still act as a living creature.

Chinese government is very clearly losing power in every aspect, but trying to fix up all the problems or potential problems.

I was in the most restricted prison in China, the most tough. The design of the prison is modeled for internal crimes of the Communist party, so it's like a mafia family's law. It's independent to the law this nation openly applies. It's the place they take you before they give you over to the judicial system. You stay there for a year or two and they make you really suffer to confess everything.

As a person, I was born to give out my opinions. By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am. As long as I can communicate, I'm not so lonely. If I cannot travel, or do art, or have company, if they take away all my belongings, it doesn't matter at all.

Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.

This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the quality of their lives.

Behind every political deal in this country, the first casualties are always the ordinary people, who are barely treated as human.