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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.

Ai Weiwei

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

Effort Interesting Life Little Make More Much
My typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.
AI WEIWEI

Appreciate Typical Wake Up
I think it’s quite narrow-minded. There wasn’t much encouragement or opportunities for any artist – not just Chinese artists.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Country Encouragement Minded Narrow Opportunities Think
People who can’t do that don’t get a sense of responsibility. And if you lack a sense of responsibility, you push the blame onto the system.
AI WEIWEI

Blame People Responsibility Sense System
Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time; we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.
AI WEIWEI

Country Director Future Going Moment Outside Priilied Somehow Time
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.
AI WEIWEI

Care Condition General Make People Sick Society Tendency
There’s no such thing as “fixed” culture. China is also becoming more global. Its problems are becoming international problems, becoming German problems, becoming American problems.
AI WEIWEI

Country Culture Fixed Global International More Problem
I always want to design a frame that’s open to everyone. I don’t see art as a secret code.
AI WEIWEI

Art Code Design Everyone Open Secret
If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.
AI WEIWEI

Face Future Nation Past
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.
AI WEIWEI

Before Confess Everything Judicial Over Place Stay Suffer System
We should use this public sphere and redefine – beyond China’s borders – what a government is allowed to do, where its powers end and where the realm of a citizen’s privacy begins.
AI WEIWEI

Allowed Border Country Government Public Redefine Sphere
I never had a sense of home.
AI WEIWEI

Home Sense
I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
AI WEIWEI

Across Book Bridge Ginsberg Having Traveler Walk
We are not on – even just a step away from the most brutal and primitive crudity. To be very crude on those issues, which is always challenges and we always have to look at the situation like a mirror, to draw some understanding.
AI WEIWEI

Always Challenge Crude Issue Mirror Primitive Situation Step Understanding
Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.
AI WEIWEI

Engage Expression Living Society Strive Way
We never really see the global situation as a total situation. Today’s political leaders are still lacking of the vision.
AI WEIWEI

Lacking Leader Moving Political Sititaion Today Vision
We’re different, and you’re dangerous.” That kind of thinking stops human, civilized evolution. It’s dangerous to create that kind of tension.
AI WEIWEI

Civilized Create Dangerous Different Human Stop Tension Thinking
At the moment about 350,000 students return to China from abroad each year – 350,000 young and educated people. I know about them because they know me and often ask me in the street if they can take a selfie with me.
AI WEIWEI

Abroad Educated Government Moment People Student Year Young
You’re still being looked at as somebody who – it’s a very complicated issue.
AI WEIWEI

Complicated Issue Looked Somebody Still
What is important is that we actively express our thoughts and wishes, in every realm that we can access.
AI WEIWEI

Access Express Important Realm Wish
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.
AI WEIWEI

Communicate Dialogue Engage Living Lonely Long Society
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.
AI WEIWEI

Beautiful Called Craftsmanship Interested Material Mean Perfect Useless
Any individual can contribute its own belief. And our society or even our government are made by the people. The people would have the final voice, but it requires each individual to act. If we don’t act, then the result is very clear.
AI WEIWEI

Contribute Government Individual Long Made People Thinking
The motivation is really to say people can find the game of getting involved interesting and find the problem and really have the passion and the enthusiasm to solve it and move forward, but that’s all I know.
AI WEIWEI

Forward Game Involved Motivation Moving Passion People
I have to respect my life, and free expression is part of my life. I can never really silence myself.
AI WEIWEI

Expression Free Respect Silence
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.
AI WEIWEI

Always Obstacles Question Spending Thinking Time
The Internet is the best thing that ever happened to China. It turns us into individuals and also enables us to share our perceptions and feelings. It creates a culture of individualism and exchange even though the real society doesn’t promote it.
AI WEIWEI

Enable Feeling Giving Happened Individual Internet Real Turn

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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Popular Authors

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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Ai Weiwei Quotes