Top 359 Quotes & Sayings by Ai Weiwei - Page 2

I wouldn’t say I’ve become more radical: I was born radical.

Liberty is about the right to question everything.

Liberty is about our rights to question everything.

I always want people to be confused, to be shocked or realize something later.

This so-called contemporary art is not a form, but a philosophy of society.

To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.

I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom

China restricts the society's freedom of speech. The Communist Party imposes these limits because it lacks confidence towards the future and has no ideals. Nowadays, China is experiencing the detrimental effects of such decisions. Its citizens have no creativity.

The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.

If human rights are supposed to have any meaning, then they have to be discussed openly.

Life is never guaranteed to be safe, so we better use it while we are still in good condition.

My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression, a new way of communication. It is never about exhibiting in museums or about hanging it on the wall.

When human beings are scared and feel everything is exposed to the government, we will censor ourselves from free thinking. That's dangerous for human development.

Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?

By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world.

If there is no free speech, every single life has lived in vain

To experience poetry is to see over and above reality. It is to discover that which is beyond the physical, to experience another life and another level of feeling. It is to wonder about the world, to understand the nature of people and, most importantly, to be shared with another, old or young, known or unknown.

No state or society can claim to have established human rights once and for all.

I think optimism is whether you are still exhilarated by life, whether you are curious, whether you still believe there is possibility.

During the days in detention, I thought most about the moon.

I’m an artist who is always looking for what is possible. I’m always looking to extend the boundaries.

I want people to see their own power.

Censorship is saying: "I'm the one who says the last sentence. Whatever you say, the conclusion is mine." But the internet is like a tree that is growing. The people will always have the last word – even if someone has a very weak, quiet voice. Such power will collapse because of a whisper.

The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It's as simple as that.

There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.

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.

To express yourself needs a reason, but expressing yourself is the reason.

My typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.

The tragic reality of today is reflected in the true plight of our spiritual existence. We are spineless and cannot stand straight.

People have a tendency to become elite rather than to care about the general conditions of the society, which makes me sick. It's an unbearable condition.

Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country.

Everyone of us is a potential convict.

Life is much more interesting when you make a little bit of effort.

Every day I'm learning something new from the practice. It's very rewarding.

Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.

It became like a symbolic thing, to be “an artist.” After Duchamp, I realized that being an artist is more about a lifestyle and attitude than producing some product.

For artists and intellectuals today, what is most needed is to be clear about social responsibility, because that is what most people automatically give up. Just to protect yourself as an individual is very political. You don't have to march on Tiananmen, but you do have to be clear-minded, to find your own means of expression.

The world is not changing if you don’t shoulder the burden of responsibility.

Imagine one day, the hateful world around you collapses. And it is your attitude, words and actions that put an end to it. Will you be excited?

Say what you say plainly, and then take responsibility for it.

We should also 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.

Creativity is the power to act.

I have to respect my life, and free expression is part of my life. I can never really silence myself.

Technology is a liberation. I think the information age probably is the best thing to happen to the human race in human evolution. Now you have the equal opportunity to equip yourself through information and knowledge and express yourself as an independent mind.

Stupidity can win for a moment, but it can never really succeed because the nature of humans is to seek freedom. Rulers can delay that freedom, but they cannot stop it.

I am everywhere and I am nowhere. That's the beauty of the Internet Age.

I think by shattering it we can create a new form, a new way to look at what is valuable — how we decide what is valuable.

You can never know what is and what is not powerful, but you can always find out what the powerful people are scared of. A state like China looks so powerful, but they are so scared of the Internet, so the Internet is more powerful than them.

I have people working together, doing different things: architecture, art installation, photography, publishing, and curatorial works and design.

We are living in a popular culture where everything is overexposed.

Warhol influenced me because of his writing. If I had never read his writings and interviews, I would never have understood his work.

Art should live in the heart of the people. Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else. I don't think art is elite or mysterious.

I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it's all we need.

Everyone thinks the Chinese government selected me. Never ever. I was selected by Herzog and de Meuron.

The so-called culture nowadays is only a fake one with a superficial front. It is an empty lie.

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.

These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.

The Internet changes the structure of society all the time — this massiveness made of individuals.

I think by not letting young people be fully informed, how can they have energy and passion and the right picture of the world? I think that's the true crime.

A nation like China has become one of the biggest production fields for exporting cheap labor, which also re-questions our history and past, re-questions human desire, and the human illusions of the past.