Ai Weiwei - Freedom Quotes

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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
[With] 140 words in Chinese, you really can write a novel. Most of Confucius's sentences [are] only four words, so 140 words [might] take his whole life to write. And you can discuss the most profound ideas related to democracy, freedom, poetry.

Ai Weiwei
I think restrictions are an essential condition in the fight for freedom of expression. It's also a source for any kind of creativity.

Ai Weiwei
Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country.

Ai Weiwei
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.

Ai Weiwei
Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.

Ai Weiwei
A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it's incomplete.

Ai Weiwei
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.

Ai Weiwei
Stupidity can win for a moment, but it can never really succeed because the nature of humans is to seek freedom. Rulers can delay that freedom, but they cannot stop it.

Ai Weiwei
My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression, a new way of communication. It is never about exhibiting in museums or about hanging it on the wall. 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. I don't think anybody can separate art from politics. The intention to separate art from politics is itself a very political intention.

Ai Weiwei
Freedom of speech implies the world isn't defined. It is meaningful when people are allowed to see the world their way.

Ai Weiwei
'Why are you so concerned about society?' That is always the question. And my answer is simple: 'Because you are an artist, you have to associate yourself with freedom of expression.'

Ai Weiwei
China [is a] society which forbids any flow of the information and freedom of speech. This is on record, so everybody should know this.

Ai Weiwei
During my detention, they kept asking me: Ai Weiwei, what is the reason you have become like this today? My answer is: First, I refuse to forget. My parents, my family, their whole generation and my generation all paid a great deal in the struggle for freedom of speech. Many people died just because of one sentence or even one word. Somebody has to take responsibility for that.

Ai Weiwei
Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility.

Ai Weiwei
No matter what happens, nothing can prevent the historical process by which society demands freedom and democracy,

Ai Weiwei
It's really life and death [not art]. When they tell you your mother is 80 years old but you cannot see her again, you can never call it performance art. Or when your son is three, and they tell you that when you are released he will be in his teens and can never recognize you as a father. You feel terrible inside, to lose those chances. Each day, they tell you, 'You will spend your life day after day the same, minute after minute the same. You just have to pay [with] your life for this kind of so-called freedom that you are fighting for.' There is no sense of justice there. Why do I have to do this with them? Why do I have to argue or play this game?

Ai Weiwei
We should 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.

Ai Weiwei
Living in a system under the Communist ideology, an artist cannot avoid fighting for freedom of expression. You always have to be aware that art is not only a self-expression but a demonstration of human rights and dignity. To express yourself freely, a right as personal as it is, has always been difficult, given the political situation.

Ai Weiwei
I have no sense of why I lost my freedom and if you do not know how you lost something, how can you protect it?

Ai Weiwei
A land that rejects the truth, barricades itself against change and lacks the spirit of freedom is hopeless.

Ai Weiwei
I think it's a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.

Ai Weiwei
I've never planned any part of my career—except being an artist. And I was pushed into that corner because I thought being an artist was the only way to have a little freedom.

Ai Weiwei
In a society where there is no freedom of the press, it is difficult for victims to be noticed. Just take the example from yesterday: I had given a telephone interview to CNN. Then, suddenly, CNN was shut down for a couple of minutes. It was the first time I experienced that my television went totally dead. I realized: Oh my God, it's because of me. This is crazy! Which nation would do that? Maybe Cuba, North Korea, China. But what do they want, what are they so afraid of?

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

Ai Weiwei