Quotes from Gao Xingjian

La culture n'est pas un luxe, c'est une nécessité

With the beginning of life, comes the thirst for truth, whereas the ability to lie is gradually acquired in the process of trying to stay alive.

Young man, nature is not frightening, it's people who are frightening! You just need to get to know nature and it will become friendly. This creature known as man is of course highly intelligent, he's capable of manufacturing almost anything from rumours to test-tube babies and yet he destroys two to three species every day. This is the absurdity of man.

I believe in science but I also believe in fate.

Only a lunatic would think that art is superior to nature.

It's in literature that true life can be found. It's under the mask of fiction that you can tell the truth.

Reality exists only through experience, and it must be personal experience. However, once related, even personal experience becomes a narrative.

Men always look differently at women, even if it's not your intention it is wrongly interpreted as such.

Soul Mountain, the story of one man's quest for inner peace and freedom.

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 in a mediocre position, become a husband and a father, set up a comfortable home, put money in the bank and add to it every month so there'll be something for old age and a little left over for the next generation?

Sitting at rest know not to discuss the shortcomings of other people Setting out on a journey fully appreciate the beauty of the dragon river

You've lived in the city for a long time and need to feel that you have a hometown.

Tú sabes que no hago nada más que hablarme a mí mismo para distraer mi soledad. Sabes que mi soledad es irremediable, nadie puede consolarme, no puedo recurrir a otro que a mí como interlocutor de mis discusiones. En este largo monólogo, <> es el objeto de mi relato, en realidad es un yo que me escucha atentamente, <> no es más que me propia sombra.

Mucizeler inanmad?m hiç, kadere inanmad???m gibi; ama ümitsiz bir durumdaysan?z , mucizelerden baÅŸka ümit baÄŸlayaca??n?z ne kal?r?

Reading this chapter is optional but as you've read it you've read it.

I did not think about what sort of people might read it. In fact, I was writing it for myself.

Another issue was language, the problem of expressing these themes in language and the problem of how much one can articulate in language.

La libertad no es un derecho del hombre que concede el cielo, y la libertad de soñar tampoco se adquiere desde el nacimiento: es una capacidad que hay que preservar, una conciencia, sobre todo porque las pesadillas no paran de perturbarla.

Although as an individual Gao had readily denounced the Chinese authorities for the events of 4 June in the French and Italian media, he refused to compromise his integrity as a writer. His stance angered both political sides.

I hadn't planned on climbing mountains. But now that you're in the mountains, be ready to suffer.

Reality is myself, reality is only the perception of this instant and it can't be related to another person.

TuzaÄŸa yakalanm?? hissediyorum kendimi. Dev bir z?pk?nla vurulmuÅŸ, korkunun aÄŸlar? içinde ç?rp?nan bir bal?k gibiyim; kaderini deÄŸiÅŸtiremeyeceÄŸini bile bile ç?rp?nan, bir mucize olmad?kça kurtulmayaca??n? bilen bir bal?k. Ama ben hayat?n boyunca hep bir mucize beklemedim mi?

Prior to that I had written many works but I was unable to present them for publication, in fact I had burned them all.

I decided that I did not want to follow any of these ideologies or trends, because these also exerted a kind of pressure, and obstructed absolute creative freedom.