It’s really rubbish that some kind of “technical” learning means you will be a better person because you know this skill better.
AI WEIWEIAs 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.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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Now many enterprises are made by individuals, so the attitude has started to change.
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The leadership knows that you cannot solve the issues of China’s future with the means of the past. The demographic consequences of the one-child policy, the build-up of the welfare state.
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This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years.
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Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China’s society is opening.
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I don’t want the next generation to fight the same fight as I did.
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And the kind of condition he had when he was in this society – the kind of mistreatment society gave him.
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We grew up in a very material-lacking socialist society, but today China is a capitalist society. It’s very materialistic. It’s full of desire and luxury goods.
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I don’t belong to a working system. They only select people if you belong to one so you can be controlled.
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There isn’t a single Chinese university that can invite me to give a talk. Even though I know there are many students who would like to hear what I have to say.
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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.
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As a person, I was born to give out my opinions. By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am.
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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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Being an artist is more of a mindset, a way of seeing things; it is no longer so much about producing something.
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A clear understanding of such differences will help the rest of the world understand China and all that is happening to the nation.
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China didn’t want to lose the cutting edge of technology. So the idea of having a Sina Weibo was an attempt to compete with Twitter. However, it has no soul – which is freedom of expression. Nevertheless,
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If my art has nothing to do with people’s pain and sorrow, what is ‘art’ for?
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It’s very essential values that we all have to protect. But in Chinese society, people are giving up on protecting these values.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The fantasy we had with pearls was always so luxurious and unique with a kind of rareness.
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Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.
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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.
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The museums used to be exhibition halls for government propaganda, and now every city wants to build a museum.
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A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.
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The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same; there’s still a one-party system and strong censorship.
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