In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want—not only you, your whol… - Ai Weiwei

People have said, if you leave, you may never come back. Or they may not even let you leave. So this is always a cost you may have to pay. But I don’t want to restrict myself: When it happens, it happens. I have to deal with it, but not to prepare for it, because it is a kind of stupidity. If you prepare for it too much, you become a part of it.

I think by shattering it we can create a new form, a new way to look at what is valuable—how we decide what is valuable.

I often ask myself if I am afraid of being detained again. I love freedom as much as anybody else, maybe more than most. But it is a tragedy to live your life in fear. It is worse than actually losing your freedom.