“You can never know what is and what is not powerful, but you can always find out what the powerful people are scared of.”

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.

These folks are creative and ironic, and the government can ultimately not control what is going on in their heads.

People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China’s relationship with the outside world.

[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.

I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.

A lot of the time [in the U.S.], I was thinking about how spending time is always questionable or is always the biggest obstacle in my life.

Nationality started as something natural, but we should not be restrained by the old politics that make up these clear lines. It should have its own way of evolving. In some places, it will evolve slower and in others, faster.

Art should live in the heart of the people. Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else. I don’t think art is elite or mysterious.

Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.

A few thousand are to be built in the next few years, all using taxpayer money. But there is no system, no research, no content, no good programs, no good managers.

I don’t think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not.

I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom

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.

The media is the message. It carries the full intention and the meaning. Once you change it…it’s very disturbing.

We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp

The intention to separate art from politics is itself a very political intention.

My most important goal is to set myself up on every Sunday to have a chance to win, and I know if I do those things, then everything else will take care of itself.

When I play with my cat, who knows whether she is not amusing herself with me more than I with her.

To discover and know has always been a deep tendency of our nature. Can we not recognize it already in caveman?

The universe as we know it is a joint product of the observer and the observed.

Happiness is the reward we get for living to the highest right we know.

Too bad all the people who know how to run this country are busy running taxicabs or cutting hair.

It’s a privilege to be in a position to give back, and one that I take pretty seriously because I know what it’s like… to be less fortunate, to be less privileged.

Crazy players love me. I don’t know why.