Everybody can write poetry, just like everybody knows how to make love. — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
Writing eases my suffering . . . writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence. — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
When I completed writing 'Soul Mountain,' I more or less closed the accounts with China for myself. I was 50 years old… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
“Prior to that I had written many works but I was unable to present them for publication, in fact I had burned… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
There are numerous layers to truth, and the simple and superficial statement of facts cannot satisfy the writer. — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
For me, writing [was] a question of survival...I could not trust anyone, even my family. The atmosphere was so poisoned. People even… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
When you use words, you're able to keep your mind alive. Writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence. — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
“I did not think about what sort of people might read it. In fact, I was writing it for myself.” — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
As a male writer, women are always what men pursue, and their world is always a mystery. So I always tried to… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
I was born Chinese, and I write in Chinese. I don't think there's any need to evade this... to a writer, as… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
To subvert is not the aim of literature, its value lies in discovering and revealing what is rarely known, little known, thought… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
When I first heard that I had won the prize, I thought that it was something for myself, that it was something… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
Various political parties, even if they're in direct opposition with one another, still say they are the spokesperson for the people. The… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
When I lived in China, my works were already being banned, and I couldn't publish. In those days, when I was in… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
Literature remains an indispensable human activity, in which the reader and the writer are engaged of their own volition. Hence, literature has… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
If, while observing the boundless universe, the writer is able to scrutinise his own self as well as others, the resulting incisiveness… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
“At the height of the Cultural Revolution, rather than risk having to face dire consequences for his accumulated writings, he burned several… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
If literature is to transcend political interference and return to being a testimony of man and his existential predicament, it needs first… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
Man tends to think that he is a creator, that he is like God. This is especially true of intellectuals, and in… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share Image
“When a man gets to middle age shouldn’t he look for a peaceful and stable existence, find a not-too-demanding sort of a job, stay… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
Literature transcends national boundaries, racial boundaries. It goes deep into the issues that concern all human beings. That is why, when people read Greek… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
I hadn't originally intended to do any reading, what if I did read one book more or one book less, whether I read or… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
If you're not perfectly conscious of yourself, that self can be tyrannical; in relationship to others, anyone can become a tyrant. That's why no… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
Since childhood, I'd dreamed of making a film, but producers in France and Germany wanted to make commercial films with chinoiserie. I refused. — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
Literature hasn't come up with any new themes. The literature of all different times - it's still dealing with how one resolves issues of… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
“Yours is much worse than Eastern! You’ve slapped together travel notes, moralistic ramblings, feelings, notes, jottings, untheoretical discussions, unfable-like fables, copied out some folk… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
The enterprise of describing something in language that has never been described before is a very difficult thing to do. When you decide to… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
When I completed writing 'Soul Mountain,' I more or less closed the accounts with China for myself. I was 50 years old when I… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
Body odour (known also as scent of the immortals) is a disgusting condition with an awful, nauseating smell. — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
If, while observing the boundless universe, the writer is able to scrutinise his own self as well as others, the resulting incisiveness of his… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
“At the height of the Cultural Revolution, rather than risk having to face dire consequences for his accumulated writings, he burned several kilos of… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
Language is inherently not concerned with logic. As an expression of the psychological activities of humankind, it simply follows a linear process as it… — Gao Xingjian Copy Share
![“For me, writing [was] a question of survival...I could not trust anyone, even my family. The atmosphere was so poisoned. People even in your own family could turn you in.” quote by Gao Xingjian](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/7e3/gao-xingjian-6987_atmosphere_for-me-writing-was-a-question-of-surviva_1471341.jpg)
