Ai Weiwei - People Quotes

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Behind every political deal in this country, the first casualties are always the ordinary people, who are barely treated as human.

Ai Weiwei
It is absurd that so much money has been wasted on manipulating public opinion, on simulating emotion. This nation is notorious for its ability to make or fake anything cheaply. Made-in-China goods now fill homes around the world. But our giant country has a small problem. We can't manufacture the happiness of our people.

Ai Weiwei
Later I became very involved in writing. I really enjoyed that moment of writing. People would pass around my sentences. That was a feeling I never had before. It was like a bullet out of the gun.

Ai Weiwei
The people who control culture in China have no culture.

Ai Weiwei
I think we have too much history. It's not so important. I think people should have fun and enjoy their own time. I haven't done much, so why should I waste people's memory?

Ai Weiwei
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
We need clear rules to play the game. We need to have respect for the law. If you play a chess game but after two or three moves you can change the rules, how can people play with you? Of course you will win, but after 60 years you will still be a bad player because you never meet anyone who can challenge you. What kind of game is that? Is that interesting? This game is not right, but who is going to say, 'Hey, let's play fairly?'

Ai Weiwei
You're in total isolation. And you don't know how long you're going to be there, but you truly believe they can do anything to you. There's no way to even question it. You're not protected by anything. Why am I here? Your mind is very uncertain of time. You become like mad. It's very hard for anyone. Even for people who have strong beliefs.

Ai Weiwei
The biggest crime of a dictatorship is to eradicate human feelings from people.

Ai Weiwei
There were thousands of moving messages. People sent money from their first month's salary. Others said: This is my retirement payment—take it. This is the money for my next pair of shoes—take it. It was very important for me to see and hear those things. Normally you do not see the warmth, humor, care and generosity of the people while writing a blog. You just feel like you are walking in a dark tunnel and you feel alone.

Ai Weiwei
I often think what I'm saying is for the people who never had a chance to be heard.

Ai Weiwei
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 whole family and all people like you.

Ai Weiwei
I tell people that because you don't bear any responsibility, you put me in danger. If we all say the same thing, then I think the government has to listen. But because no one is saying it, I become singled out, even though what I'm saying is common sense. It's very essential values that we all have to protect. But in Chinese society, people are giving up on protecting these values.

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
[My family] suffer so much. My mother was much older when I came out [of detention]. She had problems with her hearing and high blood pressure. But they still support me. When you make somebody disappear and you don't announce it to the family, what is this? You make people desperate and bring them close to death. If our cat or dog is lost, it makes us desperately want to know where it is—so for humans disappearing, you can barely imagine the pain. What kind of society is this? If a society cannot even support somebody like me, then people ask: Who is under protection, then? That's why there is such support for me. It is not because I am so beautiful or so charming. People feel, This guy is fighting for us.

Ai Weiwei
In China, there is a long history of the government not revealing information, so it's difficult for the Chinese people to ever know the truth. It is vital that we try to bring that truth to life.

Ai Weiwei
They just don't trust people. They don't trust individuals, they don't trust any change that should serve and benefit people, and they try to stop it.

Ai Weiwei
Very few people know why art sells so high. I don't even know.

Ai Weiwei
[The Olympics are] an event manipulated into misleading people into believing that we have entered a new, successful and harmonious period in our history. This is not true.

Ai Weiwei
I will never leave China, unless I am forced to. Because China is mine. I will not leave something that belongs to me in the hands of people I do not trust.

Ai Weiwei