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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

The society was so different [in China] – it was a feudalistic society. It didn’t come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty years ago.
AI WEIWEI

Come Country Different Feudalistic Industrial Point Revolution Society Twenties Year
Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.
AI WEIWEI

Act Change Chinese Kind Society Tell Thinking World
The fantasy we had with pearls was always so luxurious and unique with a kind of rareness.
AI WEIWEI

Always Fantasy Kind Luxurious Pearl Rareness Unique
I will bring 1,001 Chinese to participate as my artwork there – any Chinese who is a Chinese passport holder and over eighteen years old could apply through my blog.
AI WEIWEI

Apply Artwork Blog Country Participated Passport
I never think any place is better than others.
AI WEIWEI

Better Place Think Thinking
The project or a few ideas which are not finished or if there are possible directions and what will lead into another game. It’s always like setting up some kind of game you can continuously play.
AI WEIWEI

Continuously Direction Finished Game Lead Play Possible Project Setting
Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.
AI WEIWEI

Censorship Forward Hopeless Insulting Self Timidity Way
Today, we jump into this globalization of the economy and the internet age.
AI WEIWEI

Age Economy Globalization Internet Jump Today
I don’t think I was very structured in that society and I don’t really believe in personal success, which most Americans believe in.
AI WEIWEI

Believe Country Personal Structured Success Thinking
Dictatorship is a story about death of others who turn out to be you coincidently.
AI WEIWEI

Coincidently Death Dictatorship Stories Story Turn
I have to find a place for my own. I have to search for my own happiness.
AI WEIWEI

Find Happiness Own Place
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.
AI WEIWEI

Country Hear Invite Single Student Talk University
A nation that has no music and no fairytales is a tragedy.
AI WEIWEI

Fairytale Music Nation Tragedy
Creativity is part of human nature. It can only be untaught.
AI WEIWEI

Creativity Human Nature Untaught
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.
AI WEIWEI

Delay Freedom Human Moment Nature Stupidity Succeed Winning
That’s why I always question this sense. The feeling of home really requires a lot of trust. It requires you to identify with it, which I always find myself very contradictory to.
AI WEIWEI

Contradictory Feeling Home Identity Question Require Sense Trust
A state like China looks so powerful, but they are so scared of the Internet, so the Internet is more powerful than them.
AI WEIWEI

Country Internet More Powerful Scared State
Now many enterprises are made by individuals, so the attitude has started to change.
AI WEIWEI

Attitude Change Enterprises Individual Made Started
I don’t think my father had a direct influence on me, but I do think, more or less, I was influenced by his independent individualism.
AI WEIWEI

Direct Father Independent Influence Thinking
These folks are creative and ironic, and the government can ultimately not control what is going on in their heads.
AI WEIWEI

Control Creative Folk Government Head Ironic Ultimately
They very often just try to cope with their own election, their own popularity, solving the problem or selling the ideas to meet their own voters. By doing that, it creates a great imbalance in terms of making deals or treaty or all those things.
AI WEIWEI

Border Cope Create Deal Election Idea Imbalance Making Meet Political Popularity Selling Solving Voter
There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.
AI WEIWEI

Dictatorship Graceful Outdoor Sport Sports Stone Throwing
Even though everybody who looked at me would call me a Chinese artist, that’s the 1980s. New York in the ’80s was not so interesting.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Encouragement New York
China is at a different stage of development, human rights are violated here much more often. And still, we see improvements even here.
AI WEIWEI

Country Development Different Improvement Indifferent More Much Right
Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else. I don’t think art is elite or mysterious. I don’t think anybody can separate art from politics.
AI WEIWEI

Ability Anybody Elite Else Mysterious Ordinary People Politics Separate Understand
What counts in the end is what the government does.
AI WEIWEI

Count Doe End Government
For those actors and directors who produce films which are always about the old kingdom or about heroes.
AI WEIWEI

Actor Film Hero Kingdom Lying Old Real

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.

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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Ai Weiwei Quotes