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A nation that has no music and no fairytales is a tragedy.

Ai Weiwei

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Ai Weiwei
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: May 18
Architect
Consultant
Contemporary Artist
Designer
Film Director
Human Rights Activist
Painter
Photographer
Sculptor
Social Activist
Peking
Wei-wei Ai
Weiwei Ai
Ai Wei Wei
Tragedy
Nation
Nations
Music

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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Democracy, material wealth, and universal education are the soil upon which modernism exists.
Ai Weiwei
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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
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Overturning police cars is a super-intense workout. It’s probably the only sport I enjoy.
Ai Weiwei
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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
Ai Weiwei
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The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It's as simple as that.
Ai Weiwei
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The society was so different [in China] - it was a feudalistic society. It didn't come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty years ago.
Ai Weiwei
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The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.
Ai Weiwei
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This so-called fame or being better off doesn't really attract me at all.
Ai Weiwei
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To survive, China had to open up to the West. It could not survive otherwise. This was after many millions have died of hunger in a country that was like North Korea is today. Once we became part of global competition, we had to agree to some rules. It's painful, but we had to. Otherwise there was no way to survive.
Ai Weiwei
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I never had a sense of home.
Ai Weiwei
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I think U.S. and China is a big opportunity, to be seen as partner or some kind of strategic partner maybe. But those kind of powers have a way of getting too big, then we'll have competition. And who is going to win the competition if U.S. cannot hold a strong ideology? And even the U.S. would've lost the ground to win.
Ai Weiwei
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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. It's very essential values that we all have to protect. But in Chinese society, people are giving up on protecting these values.
Ai Weiwei
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I think by shattering it we can create a new form, a new way to look at what is valuable — how we decide what is valuable.
Ai Weiwei
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My angst and my insecurity reflect the state's angst and insecurity. The state is scared too.
Ai Weiwei
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Everyone wants an iPhone, but it would be impossible to design an iPhone in China because it's not a product it's an understanding of human nature.
Ai Weiwei
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If I really have nothing to do, I just watch my cats, take some photos, and go back to my personal blog.
Ai Weiwei
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Art is always about overcoming obstacles between the inner condition and the skill for expression.
Ai Weiwei
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After I came back [to China], there was still a long period of time when I felt I had nothing to do.
Ai Weiwei
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The world is sphere, has no East or West.
Ai Weiwei
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Life is much more interesting when you make a little bit of effort.
Ai Weiwei