Ai Weiwei Quotes

The great success of this system is that it makes the general public afraid of taking responsibility, afraid of taking a position or giving a definite answer, or even of making mistakes.

I don’t see myself as a dissident artist. I see them as a dissident government!

My work has always been political, because the choice of being an artist is political in China.

I think art certainly is the vehicle for us to develop any new ideas, to be creative, to extend our imagination, to change the current conditions.

But the internet is like a tree that is growing. The people will always have the last word – even if someone has a very weak, quiet voice.

If there is no freedom of expression, then the beauty of life is lost. Participation in a society is not an artistic choice, it’s a human need.

Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.

I came to art because I wanted to escape the other regulations of the society. The whole society is so political. But the irony is that my art becomes more and more political.

Very few people know why art sells so high. I don’t even know.

Maybe there is something I got from it. Maybe you also start to be clear on certain things.

Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.

I see myself not as a leader but as somebody who initiates things or finds the problem or provokes a discussion. You have to be always ready to engage, willing to participate. When events or history happen, you just have to be aware and respond.

The government computer has one button: delete.

Citizens should bear the responsibility to act.

They don’t believe in liberty. They don’t believe in China before the Communists. There is only one simple, clear task: to protect their control, to maintain their governing. Which is such a pity.