Life is never guaranteed to be safe, so we better use it while we are still in good condition. Ai Weiwei More Quotes by Ai Weiwei More Quotes From Ai Weiwei In the end, I think, the state's rigidity is a function of its own insecurity, its indecisiveness. Ai Weiwei insecurity ends thinking The leadership knows that you cannot solve the issues of China's future with the means of the past. The demographic consequences of the one-child policy, the build-up of the welfare state, the jobs for 7 million university graduates every year, the immense corruption: Even some Western governments would have to scramble to find solutions to such problems. Ai Weiwei jobs mean children Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China's society is opening. Ai Weiwei china past years It is not an easy job to govern China, I am aware of that. There are crises and emergencies all the time, we might not even be aware of some. But I am afraid we'll have to wait and observe precisely what the government is up to. Ai Weiwei government waiting jobs At the moment about 350,000 students return to China from abroad each year - 350,000 young and educated people. I know about them because they know me and often ask me in the street if they can take a selfie with me. These folks are creative and ironic, and the government can ultimately not control what is going on in their heads. Ai Weiwei government people years It is not an easy job to govern China, I am aware of that. Ai Weiwei china easy jobs Any politician who respects China's government should tell it openly what is in his heart. It is disrespectful to keep quiet about such issues - both vis-a-vis the government and the people concerned. Ai Weiwei issues government heart We should use this public sphere and redefine - beyond China's borders - what a government is allowed to do, where its powers end and where the realm of a citizen's privacy begins. Ai Weiwei spheres borders government Now many enterprises are made by individuals, so the attitude has started to change. Ai Weiwei individual made attitude [Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world. Ai Weiwei department museums world I don't personally feel any association with a kind of culture related to state, or culture related to power, which I think is always disgusting. Ai Weiwei association culture thinking I think U.S. and China is a big opportunity, to be seen as partner or some kind of strategic partner maybe. But those kind of powers have a way of getting too big, then we'll have competition. And who is going to win the competition if U.S. cannot hold a strong ideology? And even the U.S. would've lost the ground to win. Ai Weiwei strong winning opportunity I think to deal with the situation like human crisis, 65 million people being displaced, lost their home, and with such human tragedy, has to make every level of society to be conscious and to be alert about the situation. So, the politicians and the people who make decisions very often is the one we think can make some difference. But of course they will not make a difference if the citizens or the individuals not push it or not to speak out, to possess a very strong voice about, this is not acceptable. Ai Weiwei strong home thinking Now I've come to such a mixed culture: America, Europe, South America, Africa. And the politics are changing everywhere all the time and becoming even more unpredictable. There's no such thing as "fixed" culture. China is also becoming more global. Its problems are becoming international problems, becoming German problems, becoming American problems. Nothing is clear-cut. Perhaps I'll find my way - or get totally lost. Ai Weiwei unpredictable problem culture Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time; we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like. Ai Weiwei china moments directors China is at a different stage of development, human rights are violated here much more often. And still, we see improvements even here. Ai Weiwei different development rights I think I'm just a traveler. When you walk across a river and there's no bridge, you build one. I'm used to having to deal with Chinese Communist ideology - it's not really an ideology, but a method of control. But China's problems are not just China's problems - they're human problems. Humanity has always worked better when you see it as one. Ai Weiwei chinese humanity thinking Nationality started as something natural, but we should not be restrained by the old politics that make up these clear lines. It should have its own way of evolving. In some places, it will evolve slower and in others, faster. It's like the mountains, the ocean and the rivers. It has its own geological forms. Societies cannot be flat. But during change, human rights, human dignity and free speech have to be protected. Otherwise, we'll be going backward. Ai Weiwei mountain dignity ocean I never felt like a Chinese citizen because I was pushed away at a very young age. My father, a writer, was a national enemy of the Communist Party. He was forbidden to write for 20 years. We literally lived underground. We dug a hole and lived there for years. My father cleaned public toilets, even though he was a highly respected poet. Nationality and borders are barriers to our intelligence, to our imagination and to all kinds of possibilities. Ai Weiwei party writing father Civilization has evolved toward more acceptance, understanding and tolerance of global thinking. If we accept differences, our creativity booms. It makes life much more colorful. It also makes humanity much more safe. If we see pureness somewhere as something to be desired, the trouble starts. Ai Weiwei creativity acceptance thinking
