Quotes by Gao Xingjian

“Observing humans and observing oneself yields a clear-minded starting point for literature.”

“Love is so holy, so confusing. It makes a man anxious, tormented. Love, how can I define it?”

“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.”

“As a male writer, women are always what men pursue, and their world is always a mystery. So I always tried to present as many views as possible on womens worlds.”

“In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they have continued to write?”

“In the grand tradition, both Chinese and Western painting have a close link with literature,”

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.

Reality is myself, reality is only the perception of this instant and it cant be related to another person.

“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.”