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To express yourself needs a reason, but expressing yourself is the reason.

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
Expressing
Express
Reason
Needs

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it's all we need.
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Because Chinese art is booming, it legitimizes this profession.
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Had I to create a name for these times, I’d say it is the age of craziness
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[Cultural department] understand nothing but bureaucratic daily affairs. They don't care about culture.
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Creativity is the power to act.
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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
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Life is never guaranteed to be safe, so we better use it while we are still in good condition.
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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.
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China didn't want to lose the cutting edge of technology. So the idea of having a Sina Weibo was an attempt to compete with Twitter. However, it has no soul - which is freedom of expression. Nevertheless, I think the government regrets having Sina Weibo, but they cannot shut it down. That would definitely be suicidal.
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I also doubt a man can give really clear reasons for anything.
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Chinese citizens have never had the right to really express their opinions in the constitution it says you can, but in the real world it is more dangerous. In the west people think it's a right they're born with. Here it's a right given by the government, and one that's not really practised.
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I don't believe in a sense of home.
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Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.
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Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country.
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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.
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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.
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I often feel more disgust than pride about this kind of success. So there's no regret whatsoever.
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Measuring national prestige by gold medals is like using Viagra to judge the potency of a man.
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I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
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I think my stance and my way of life is my most important art.
Ai Weiwei