“You start to see the society, how it functions, how it works. Then you have a lot of criticism about how it works.”

I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.

I think U.S. and China is a big opportunity, to be seen as partner or some kind of strategic partner maybe. But those kind of powers have a way of getting too big, then we’ll have competition.

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.

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.

These folks are creative and ironic, and the government can ultimately not control what is going on in their heads.

People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China’s relationship with the outside world.

[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.

I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.

A lot of the time [in the U.S.], I was thinking about how spending time is always questionable or is always the biggest obstacle in my life.

Nationality started as something natural, but we should not be restrained by the old politics that make up these clear lines. It should have its own way of evolving. In some places, it will evolve slower and in others, faster.

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.

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

A few thousand are to be built in the next few years, all using taxpayer money. But there is no system, no research, no content, no good programs, no good managers.

I don’t think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not.

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

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.

The majority of pop stars are complete idiots in every respect.

Why I came here, I know not; where I shall go it is useless to inquire – in the midst of myriads of the living and the dead worlds, stars, systems, infinity, why should I be anxious about an atom?

Tell the sun and stars hello for me.

I’ve talked to Bill Clinton – he’s the ultimate rock star; no one’s more charming than him. People clap in a restaurant when he finishes dinner! I don’t get that treatment. I get it when I walk onstage, but not when I have dinner.

This is. And thou art. There is no safety. There is no end. The word must be heard in silence. There must be darkness to see the stars.

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?

When I had satisfied myself that no star of that kind had ever shone before, I was led into such perplexity by the unbelievability of the thing that I began to doubt the faith of my own eyes.

The darkest night that ever fell upon the earth never hid the light, never put out the stars. It only made the stars more keenly, kindly glancing, as if in protest against the darkness.