“When human beings are scared and feel everything is exposed to the government, we will censor ourselves from free thinking. That’s dangerous for human development.”

I have always stated I designed the stadium as a toilet seat.

Everyone thinks the Chinese government selected me. Never ever. I was selected by Herzog and de Meuron.

There’s no single artwork I even want to mention or that I can even really think about it to have any feeling, to be proud of it.

I think of art as coming from daily life, daily experience. I think it’s very important not to have it become work for some kind of elite circle.

We never really see the global situation as a total situation. Today’s political leaders are still lacking of the vision.

If we all say the same thing, then I think the government has to listen. But because no one is saying it, I become singled out, even though what I’m saying is common sense.

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.

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.

If civil society has nobody who protects the law, then what kind of society is that?

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.

If human rights are supposed to have any meaning, then they have to be discussed openly.

This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the quality of their lives.

If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.

I don’t think [price] reflects if the work is good or bad.A good artist shouldn’t be nervous about that.

A clear understanding of such differences will help the rest of the world understand China and all that is happening to the nation.

I also have to speak out for people around me who are afraid, who think it is not worth it or who have totally given up hope. So I want to set an example: you can do it and this is OK, to speak out.

If you have a dog or a cat, you know how developed they can be. How sensitive, how aware. They suffer. We all do.

The whole of the developments and operations of analysis are now capable of being executed by machinery … As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will necessarily guide the future course of science.

I think that the formation of [DNA’s] structure by Watson and Crick may turn out to be the greatest developments in the field of molecular genetics in recent years.

As with a wound on one’s own body, it is possible to develop an intimacy with the most disturbing of things.

Spirituality helps develop good character. It is character that shines bright when words fail to do so.

Over time, we as humans have developed a different attitude towards nature and we’ve forgotten about our inner power.

I had developed this habit of writing scenarios as a hobby. I would find out which stories had been sold to be made into films and I would write my own treatment and then compare it.

I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.