Ai Weiwei - Internet Quotes

10 Sourced Quotes

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People often say I started to become too outspoken after a certain period. It's all because of the Internet. If we didn't have this technology I would be same as everybody else. I couldn't really amplify my voice.

Ai Weiwei
The Internet is the best thing that could have happened to China.

Ai Weiwei
The state is taking action against people who have peacefully demonstrated their ideas. They are writers—all they did is to express their minds through the Internet. So the pattern is very clear. The state tries to maintain stability by crushing any thought of making change. It could happen to me, because I did the same thing and in many cases I went much further and deeper. But I always think the government can learn from their mistakes—they should learn and understand; they should be just as intelligent as anyone else.

Ai Weiwei
House arrest, travel restrictions, surveillance, stopping phone service, cutting the Internet connection. What we can still do is greet the crazy motherland once again.

Ai Weiwei
As an artist, I am very familiar with how to show the details, how to transform them into a language people can understand. They [the government] know that the Internet is a strong force, unbearable for them.

Ai Weiwei
The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It's as simple as that.

Ai Weiwei
The Internet changes the structure of society all the time—this massiveness made of individuals.

Ai Weiwei
Today, the West feels very shy about human rights and the political situation. They're in need of money. But every penny they borrowed or made from China has really come as a result of how this nation sacrificed everybody's rights. With globalization and the Internet, we all know it. Don't pretend you don't know it. The Western politicians—shame on them if they say they're not responsible for this. It's getting worse, and it will keep getting worse.

Ai Weiwei
On the Internet, people do not know each other, they don't have common leaders, sometimes not even a common political goal. But they come together on certain issues. I think that is a miracle. It never happened in the past. Without the Internet, I would not even be Ai Weiwei today. I would just be an artist somewhere doing my shows.

Ai Weiwei
Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what's on his mind. A fairy tale has come true.

Ai Weiwei