"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."
React to this quote
More by Ai Weiwei
See allResonant Thoughts
"We must surely learn, from both our past and present history, how careful we must be not to provoke the anger of the native people by doing them wrong, how we should be cautious in our dealings with a…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"All the big sportswriters seemed to enjoy writing about me as an ignorant cotton-mill boy with nothing but …"
— Shoeless Joe Jackson"I’m not sure. I’m not sure if you talk to the opposition, they would consider that to be an insult. They th…"
— Jakaya Kikwete"That was a life lesson to me. Because, yes it's important to take back those choices and be who we are un-a…"
— Alethea Arnaquq-Baril"The purpose of this book is to show how economic analysis can be used in formulating business policies. It …"
— Joel Dean"Involuntarily and without any definite motive, I had a thought that often occurs to me. Not only did I begi…"
— Vincent van Gogh"As I watched the seagulls, I thought: "That's the road to take; find the absolute rhythm and follow it with…"
— Nikos Kazantzakis

