#om

Miracles sometimes occur, but one has to work terribly hard for them. ↗

— Chaim Weizmann

#miracles #occur #sometimes #terribly #them

Since the global economic crisis began, the change in global attitudes is clear to see - and I think it is pitiful. Barack Obama came to China and he is probably the only president of the United States never to mention the words 'human rights' in public. ↗

— Ai Weiwei

#barack #barack obama #began #came #change

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. ↗

— Ai Weiwei

#competition #conceive #courage #designed #embody

The Chinese art world does not exist. In a society that restricts individual freedoms and violates human rights, anything that calls itself creative or independent is a pretence. It is impossible for a totalitarian society to create anything with passion and imagination. ↗

— Ai Weiwei

#art #art world #calls #chinese #create

The Olympic Games are highly commercialised. They purport to follow the traditions of an ancient athletics competition, but today it is the commercial aspect that is most apparent. I have seen how, through sport, cities and corporations compete against each other for financial gain. ↗

— Ai Weiwei

#ancient #apparent #aspect #athletics #cities

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

#anything #around #cheaply #country #fake

My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too. ↗

— Jack Welch

#developing #gardener #had #i #job

To survive, China had to open up to the West. It could not survive otherwise. This was after many millions have died of hunger in a country that was like North Korea is today. Once we became part of global competition, we had to agree to some rules. It's painful, but we had to. Otherwise there was no way to survive. ↗

— Ai Weiwei

#agree #became #china #competition #could

To the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat. ↗

— Ai Weiwei

#am #become #china #critical #dangerous

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. ↗

— Ai Weiwei

#architecture #bureaucrats #complicated #criticism #functions