black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

It is not an easy job to govern China, I am aware of that. There are crises and emergencies all the time, we might not even be aware of some. But I am afraid we’ll have to wait and observe precisely what the government is up to.

Ai Weiwei

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
Politics is like air and water. And you know if there is bad politics. Everyone is polluted. Everyone is unhealthy. See the people walking on the street: how they act.
AI WEIWEI

Air Bad Everyone People Politics Polluted Unhealthy Water
The practice of photography is no longer a means for recording reality. Instead, it has become reality itself
AI WEIWEI

Itself Mean Photography Practice Reality Recording
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.
AI WEIWEI

Behind Contact Discrimination Expression Ignorant Leave Marrow Minded War
Even if I have hundreds of things to do, the disconnected feeling is still there because it is very hard to find a real purpose of life.
AI WEIWEI

Disconnected Do Feeling Find Hard Hundred Purpose Real Still Thing Very
What counts in the end is what the government does.
AI WEIWEI

Count Doe End Government
If civil society has nobody who protects the law, then what kind of society is that?
AI WEIWEI

Kind Law Nobody Protect Society
I don’t think [price] reflects if the work is good or bad.A good artist shouldn’t be nervous about that.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Bad Good Nervous Thinking Reflect
In China, we don’t have any contemporary art museums. Until a few years ago, we didn’t even have a gallery.
AI WEIWEI

Ago Art Contemporary Museum Until Year
There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.
AI WEIWEI

Dictatorship Graceful Outdoor Sport Sports Stone Throwing
I never think any place is better than others.
AI WEIWEI

Better Place Think Thinking
I came back [to Beijing ] because that’s the only time I had an excuse to come back, or otherwise I would never have a reason to come back.
AI WEIWEI

Back Beijing Excuse Otherwise Reason Time
If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.
AI WEIWEI

Face Future Nation Past
I’m totally independent. I don’t bear any responsibility to any system.
AI WEIWEI

Bear Independent Responsibility System Totally
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
Hopefully, other successes aren’t like me. It carries much more meaning to other people; my success story is irrelevant. It doesn’t make any sense.
AI WEIWEI

Carries Hopefully Irrelevant Like More People Stories Story Success Successes
If I look at it, I would laugh. I don’t know how I became successful.
AI WEIWEI

Laughing Look Successful
If I really have nothing to do, I just watch my cats, take some photos, and go back to my personal blog.
AI WEIWEI

Blog Cat Nothing Personal Photo Really Watches
To give a price to an artwork, no matter how high or low, is always absurd. It’s not something that can be measured by money or by certain numbers.
AI WEIWEI

Absurd Always Artwork Giving High Matter Measured Number Price Something
Of course, there [in China] has to be chaos. It has to be crazy, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong about it except this government, which is really incapable of doing anything meaningful.
AI WEIWEI

Anything Country Crazy Meaningful Think Thinking Wrong
You need a purpose to express yourself, but that expression is its own purpose.
AI WEIWEI

Express Expression Need Purpose Yourself
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
I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination.
AI WEIWEI

Desert Grew Imagination Kind
The freedom of speech is an important yardstick for a society’s level of civilization.
AI WEIWEI

Civilization Freedom Important Level Society Speech
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
It’s really rubbish that some kind of “technical” learning means you will be a better person because you know this skill better.
AI WEIWEI

Better Learning Mean Person Rubbish Skill Technical

It is not an easy job to govern China, I am aware of that. There are crises and emergencies all the time, we might not even be aware of some. But I am afraid we’ll have to wait and observe precisely what the government is up to.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

It is not an easy job to govern China, I am aware of that. There are crises and emergencies all the time, we might not even be aware of some. But I am afraid we’ll have to wait and observe precisely what the government is up to.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Ai Weiwei Quotes