Famous Quotes

"Widespread state control over art and culture has left no room for freedom of expression in the country. For more than 60 years, anyone with a dissenting opinion has been suppressed. Chinese art is merely a product: it avoids any meaningful engagement. There is no larger context. Its only purpose is to charm viewers with its ambiguity."

Ai Weiwei on Freedom

More quotes about Freedom

• "Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged."

  Ronald Reagan on Freedom

• "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

  Nelson Mandela on Freedom

• "If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom."

  Dwight D. Eisenhower on Freedom

• "I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."

  Robert A. Heinlein on Freedom

• "Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err."

  Mahatma Gandhi on Freedom

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

• "To work in architecture you are so much involved with society, with politics, with bureaucrats. It's a very complicated process to do large projects. You start to see the society, how it functions, how it works. Then you have a lot of criticism about how it works."

• "I see the Beijing National Stadium as an architectural project. I accepted Herzog and De Meuron's invitation to collaborate on the design, and our proposal won the competition. From beginning to end, I stayed with the project. I am committed to fostering relationships between a city and its architecture."

• "The 'Bird's Nest' National Stadium, which I helped to conceive, is designed to embody the Olympic spirit of 'fair competition.' It tells people that freedom is possible but needs fairness, courage and strength."

• "Everyone wants an iPhone, but it would be impossible to design an iPhone in China because it's not a product it's an understanding of human nature."

• "I see the Beijing National Stadium as an architectural project. I accepted Herzog and De Meuron's invitation to collaborate on the design, and our proposal won the competition. From beginning to end, I stayed with the project. I am committed to fostering relationships between a city and its architecture."