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I don't think I was very structured in that society and I don't really believe in personal success, which most Americans believe in.

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
Believe
Really
Think
Thinking
Structured
Americans
Personal
Society
Success

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
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Beijing is constructing a 100,000 m2 modern art museum, yet it will not feature any of my work.
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Many people I know - writers, poets - they have all been sentenced not once but sometimes three times after they come out. They serve five or six years, come out another time, and then nine years. Come out again, 12 years. Only because they have a different opinion. They are innocent people, they have beautiful minds, beautiful hearts.
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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. The only way to avoid misunderstanding, war and bloodshed is to defend freedom of expression and to communicate with sincerity, concern and good intentions.
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I suddenly realized I was getting ten opening notes a day on my mobile phone, more than when I was in New York. But this is China, where nothing is surprising.
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If you don’t act, the danger becomes stronger.
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Dictatorship is a story about death of others who turn out to be you coincidently.
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China restricts the society's freedom of speech. The Communist Party imposes these limits because it lacks confidence towards the future and has no ideals. Nowadays, China is experiencing the detrimental effects of such decisions. Its citizens have no creativity.
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I'm most embarrassed at my art shows, even though I don't show it.
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As a person, I was born to give out my opinions. By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am. As long as I can communicate, I'm not so lonely. If I cannot travel, or do art, or have company, if they take away all my belongings, it doesn't matter at all.
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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.
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I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
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As a total activity - I practice curating, art, architecture, writing, and publishing all together. I still act as a living creature.
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For artists and intellectuals today, what is most needed is to be clear about social responsibility, because that is what most people automatically give up. Just to protect yourself as an individual is very political. You don't have to march on Tiananmen, but you do have to be clear-minded, to find your own means of expression.
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In an environment without public platform nor protection, the individual is the most powerful and most responsible.
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Each year, more people want to become artists.
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Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?
Ai Weiwei
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I don't belong to a working system. They only select people if you belong to one so you can be controlled.
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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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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