“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.”

It’s just a way you have to set up some kind of activities to follow your instincts or your curiosities.

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.

Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential. Simply put, aside from using one’s imagination – perhaps more importantly – creativity is the power to act.

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

Any politician who respects China’s government should tell it openly what is in his heart. It is disrespectful to keep quiet about such issues – both vis-a-vis the government and the people concerned.

What counts in the end is what the government does.

Creativity is part of human nature. It can only be untaught.

In my life, I often make so-called major decisions by very quick, immediate responses.

Civilization has evolved toward more acceptance, understanding and tolerance of global thinking. If we accept differences, our creativity booms. It makes life much more colorful.

Now you have the equal opportunity to equip yourself through information and knowledge and express yourself as an independent mind.

Just look at the statistics: Each university has tens of thousands of applications for students who want to be in art school, but they can only accept a few hundred.

Liberty is about the right to question everything.

You’re still being looked at as somebody who – it’s a very complicated issue.

In this kind of dictatorship, in this kind of totalitarian society, it is easy to make deals that you cannot make in a democratic society.

Had I to create a name for these times, I’d say it is the age of craziness

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.