Quote

I think the pearls - one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl - really show a kind of [society] condition.

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
Think
Five
Pearls
Thinking
Society
Bowls
Show
Pounds
Shows
Condition
Another
Million
May
Hundred
Necklace
Kind
Conditions
Necklaces
Really
Millions
Bowl

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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I'm not nostalgic about the old city. I don't enjoy it that much. It was just a city with one emperor and the rest of them just rats or meaningless people.
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I believe [the architecture firm] Herzog and de Meuron and our collaboration made the product the best it could be.
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It's always nice to share your energy with young people, the people who might not have any skills but are simply willing to be a part of it.
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Today, the general masses in this society are in this political-social condition that really encourages people to become rich and become a star and be unique.
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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.
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Dictatorship is a story about death of others who turn out to be you coincidently.
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I never saw [Allen Ginsberg] as some kind of crazy figure.
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I never think any place is better than others.
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In a society that restricts individual freedoms and violates human rights, anything that calls itself creative or independent is a pretence. It is impossible for a totalitarian society to create anything with passion and imagination.
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This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years. People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China's relationship with the outside world.
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We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp
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I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
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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.
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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.
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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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China seems unpredictable because it has a distinct culture and social system. It is still a mystery to other parts of the world, even though the veil of China has been lifted many times as a result of globalization.
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Man has a tendency to try to give clear reasons to be rational, but often you can see how all those reasons are not convincing and turn out to be a big nonsense.
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Life is much more interesting when you make a little bit of effort.
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I think optimism is whether you are still exhilarated by life, whether you are curious, whether you still believe there is possibility.
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My understanding of Chinese history is limited. So far, I have only scratched its surface I wish I could find out more.
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