“Creativity is the power to act.”

I think China is laughing about the results of the presidential elections. China, Russia, they all laugh about it.

Say what you say plainly, and then take responsibility for it.

My typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.

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.

We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.

Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.

I think art certainly is the vehicle for us to develop any new ideas, to be creative, to extend our imagination, to change the current conditions.

Maybe being powerful means to be fragile.

Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.

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.

I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.

These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.

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.

Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.

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.

Chinese government is very clearly losing power in every aspect, but trying to fix up all the problems or potential problems.

Every creative act draws on the past whether it pretends to or not. It draws on what it knows. There’s no such thing, really, as a creative act in a vacuum.

Proximity to the crowd, to the majority view, spells the death of creativity. For a soul can create only when alone, and some are chosen for the flowering that takes place in the dark avenues of night.

Creative thinking – in terms of idea creativity – is not a mystical talent. It is a skill that can be practised and nurtured.

Creativity can be learned like basketball, which does not mean we will all be NBA stars.

Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone.

As competition intensifies, the need for creative thinking increases. It is no longer enough to do the same thing better . . . no longer enough to be efficient and solve problems.

Man owes his success to his creativity. No one doubts the need for it. It is most useful in good times and essential in bad.

Creativity is a great motivator because it mades people interested in what they are doing.