Quote

You can never know what is and what is not powerful, but you can always find out what the powerful people are scared of. A state like China looks so powerful, but they are so scared of the Internet, so the Internet is more powerful than them.

Ai Weiwei

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Looks
Always
Scared
Never
China
Like
Internet
People
Powerful
State
States
Find

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

Image
After I came back [to China], there was still a long period of time when I felt I had nothing to do.
Ai Weiwei
Image
If there's the right condition, I always want to express the concept or ideas in a very independent way.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Everyone of us is a potential convict.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Chinese government is very clearly losing power in every aspect, but trying to fix up all the problems or potential problems.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Everything is selected by the central government without good judgment or an understanding of culture to make it really safe. They will become nobody to maintain their power and be raised to the next higher level.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
Ai Weiwei
Image
If you don’t act, the danger becomes stronger.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The purpose of art is the fight for freedom.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The people who control culture in China have no culture.
Ai Weiwei
Image
These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Of course, most luxury goods in China are for corrupted officials and their relatives. And that made China become the biggest luxury-goods market. In this kind of dictatorship, in this kind of totalitarian society, it is easy to make deals that you cannot make in a democratic society.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The demand for individual freedom leads us to different realms, and it enables us to participate in social events.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The biggest obstacle in interacting with China is the difference in perspectives about basic values. These include issues such as human rights, the concept of law and constitution.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The American experience influenced my understanding of individuality, basic human rights, freedom of expression and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Our lives are bound by physical limits, familial ties, political conditions, and geographical restrictions. Individual freedom takes us beyond them all.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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
Image
Of course, people will call you an old artist or young artist, which is just a character of you. But personally, I don't think my work and my understanding of art is so much related to being Chinese, but the character of that. Maybe it's beyond my own consciousness.
Ai Weiwei
Image
My image of what a city should be - the super-rich and all the poor and desperate and the people who have some kind of a desire. It's a surviving game, people trying to survive on many different levels.
Ai Weiwei